Highest Producers of Wood Charcoal

Brazil produces 11% of the world's wood charcoal, the world's largest single contributing country by
far. Much of Brazil's charcoal is used for the production of pig iron, one of the country's primary
exports. India and China each produce 4%, and a token amount is contributed by many other countries
around the world. The remaining 63% of global wood charcoal production is based in Africa,
particularly in countries such as Nigeria, Ethiopia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Mozambique,
Tanzania,Ghana, and Egypt. Seven of the top ten charcoal-producing countries are African.
Between 2004 and 2009, global wood charcoal production increased by 9%. This is due in large part
to the increase in wood charcoal use and production in developing African countries. Approximately
30% of the wood harvested for fuel in Africa is used for charcoal production.

Top 10 Wood Charcoal Producing Countries

Percentage Share
of Wood
Rank Country
Charcoal
Production

1 Brazil 11

2 Nigeria 8

3 Ethiopia 8

4 Democratic Republic of Congo 4

5 Mozambique 4

6 India 4

7 China 4

8 Tanzania 3

9 Ghana 3

10 Egypt 3
http://www.worldatlas.com/articles/top-10-wood-charcoal-producing-countries.html

Top Wood Charcoal Exporting And Importing Countries

Production of charcoal has been increasing worldwide from 18 million tonnes in 1965 to 47 million
tonnes in 2009, by which time Africa produced 63% of the charcoal in the world.The largest
contributors to global export in coal, Paraguay (12%), India (11%), Indonesia (11%), Argentina (11%),
and Somalia (5%) account for half of the coal exports.
Paraguay's coal industry is one of the main drivers of the deforestation of the already scarce tropical
dry forests. Biomass and charcoal are the main fuels for cooking and industrial use. Export of coal is
one of its main revenue, and exceeds domestic consumption. Its main importer is Brazil itself a large
producer, with truckloads of charcoal illegally crossing the borders. In addition high quality barbecue
charcoal is exported to Spain, Germany, Belgium, Brazil, Israel and Chile. Similarly charcoal making
is an illegal activity in Indonesia. India produces activated charcoal, hardwood charcoal, coconut
 charcoal, charcoal dust on a large scale using modern technology and machinery. India exported 18%
of the wood charcoal it produced in 2014. The USA are its major importers.
Countries which have the highest share in global coal import are Germany (9%), China (8%),
Malaysia(8%), Japan (7%) and Republic of Korea (6%). Germany imports coal worth 111 million US
dollars, coming mainly from Poland (40%), Paraguay (12%), Nigeria (6.7%), France (6.3%), Bosnia
and Herzegovina (5.3%), Ukraine.3%) and Indonesia (4.5%). The charcoal is mainly used in the
leisure industry for barbecues and restaurants, as well as industrial purposes such as smelting. China
imports 75 million dollars of coal mainly from India, Myanmar, Colombia, Indonesia, Thailand and
Ivory coast. China's growing demand for charcoal is driven by its silicon production which accounts
for 50% of the world production.

Percentage Share Percentage Share Of

Country Of Country Of
Rank Of Total Wood Total Wood
Export Import
Charcoal Exports Charcoal Imports

1 Paraguay 12 Germany 9

2 India 11 China 8

3 Indonesia 11 Malaysia 8

4 Argentina 11 Japan 7

Republic Of
5 Somalia 5 Korea 6
http://www.worldatlas.com/articles/top-wood-charcoal-exporting-and-importing-countries.html

Fuelwood and charcoal

Use of fuelwood and charcoal has been and will still be the dominant use of wood in the developing
countries of the Asia-Pacific region. Total consumption is projected to be 870 million cubic meters by
the year 2000 and 930 million by 2010, 7% and 19% over the 1992's level. By the year 2000, the top
three consuming countries will still be India (268 million cubic meters), China (212 million) and
Indonesia (165 million) (Table 85).

Table 85. Consumption of fuelwood and charcoal, in thousand m3, 1992-2010.

Country 1992 2000 2010

Australia 2974 2291 1720
China 203765 212060 222905
Hong Kong 289 123 76
India 257789 268283 282003
Indonesia 145455 165138 184411
Japan 856 269 201
Korea Rep 4491 4674 4913
Malaysia 9029 10605 11916
Myanmar 18632 20716 22859
New Zealand 50 37 27
Papua New Guinea 5533 5649 5941
Philippines 35035 37899 41350
Singapore

Solomon Islands 138 140 145

Thailand 34859 39765 44503
Rest of the Asia-Pacific 122256 99618 107421
Asia Pacific 841151 867267 930388
Canada 6867 5644 4264
Chile 7999 9010 9907
European Union 36845 31563 23988
Russia 81051 78800 81977
United States 93246 75472 58531
Rest of the World 806171 893690 943514
World 1873330 1961445 2052569
Share 45 % 44% 45%

http://www.fao.org/docrep/w7705e/w7705e0o.htm

Charcoal briquetting in the Philippines: challenges and prospects

June 8, 2015

A 2013 survey made by the team of Dr. Emelyne C. Cortiguerra of the Department of Science and
Technologys Forest Products Research and Development Institute (DOST-FPRDI) showed that there
is a high demand for charcoal briquettes abroad. According to the countrys top charcoal briquette
makers, foreign buyers often buy in large quantities which most of them cannot meet.
This means the door is wide open for anyone who wants to grab a piece of the action in the charcoal
briquetting industry, says Dr. Cortiguerra, but they have to be aware also of the problems currently
faced by briquette producers.
FPRDI Director Dr. Romulo T. Aggangan explains, A charcoal briquette is a compacted mass of fuel
material made from a mix of charcoal fines and binder, and molded under pressure. Although charcoal
briquettes are not very well known in the Philippines, the product is already a household fuel in
Europe and America. In some Asian countries, hotels and big restaurants use it for roasting.

Dr. Cortiguerra and her teams survey of the 16 top charcoal briquette producers in the country
identified the strengths and opportunities of the industry. She reports, The biggest strength is the huge
demand for briquettes in the US, Europe, Japan, Korea and Malaysia. Likewise, as an alternative fuel,
briquettes in the future can replace much of the countrys expensive energy sources such as liquefied
petroleum gas (LPG), kerosene and electricity. Other strengths include innovative producers and a
wide range of available raw materials.

Dr. Cortiguerra continues, The problems of the industry, on the other hand, include the sustainability
of the raw materials, the very stiff price competition in the global market and high cost of transporting
the product abroad. The low-capacity of most briquetting machines is also a major drawback, plus the
fact that they are often hard to operate. Likewise, charcoal briquettes have suffered from low publicity
which has led to low acceptability in the local market.

http://www.fprdi.dost.gov.ph/index.php/114-charcoal-briquetting-in-the-philippines-challenges-and-
prospects

Water lily good as charcoal briquettes

In the Philippines, water lily blocks rivers and irrigation canals, hinders fishing, and enhances
breeding places for vectors that transmit harmful diseases.

Specifically in Laguna Lake, it grows in abundance that it has become a nuisance to navigation.
Sometimes, it enters lakeside farms in such quantities that it interferes in rice-growing.

Local government units around the 90,000-hectare lake spend a fortune annually to remove water
lilies in mouths of rivers and in streets after typhoons.

Now comes a technology that can convert water hyacinth into charcoal briquettes ideal for, among
other things, household cooking and grilling.

The briquettes burn clean with very little smoke, according to researchers of the Los Baos-Based
Department of Environment and Natural Resources-Ecosystems Research and Development Bureau
(DENR-ERDB).

"The ash of water hyacinth is also valuable as a fertilizer," the ERDB research team led by Engr.
Santiago Baconguis reported. ERDB, headed by Director Celso P. Diaz, is also involved in studies
using cellulosic (plant) materials in charcoal briquette production. Other researchers involved are
Alexander Malabanan, Dominador Pangga, Jesus Posadas, and Zoilo Alvarez.

Charcoal briquettes made from water lily are excellent fuels that can substitute wood-based and
petroleum-based carriers, they said.

A ton of water hyacinth can remove 1-1.5 ha of the aquatic plants from the lake. It can save 75-88
trees with diameter of about 10 centimeters, can save an equivalent area of .12-.14 ha of forest
plantation, and C02 avoidance is 1.65-22 t/ha.

http://www.philstar.com/agriculture/234740/water-lily-good-charcoal-briquette