A pellet dryer is provided having a housing with an inlet and a two separate outlets for discharging dried pellets and fluid, a vertical bladed rotor for centrifugally separating fluid by a screen surrounding the bladed rotor, an outlet duct connected to the outlet opening for the dried pellets, and a curved outlet guidance plate close to the top of the housing. The outlet guidance plate extends from a central position above the screen through the pellet outlet opening into the outlet duct to smooth transitional movement of the pellets between the upper end of the screen and the outlet duct.