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Biomass exchange review – March 2019
2019 04 17
The turnover of BALTPOOL biomass exchange increased by one quarter to EUR 4.2 million in March.
The total turnover of the biomass exchange increased by 26 percent to EUR 4.2 million in March compared to February. In the first month of the spring, heat producers rushed to make sure they would not run out of biomass in the summer and concluded long-term contracts for the amount 68 percent higher than in February (EUR 1.35 million).
“The value growth of long-term contracts for the summer season was one of the reasons for the increase of the exchange turnover in March. The fact that there was one trading session more in March also had an effect,” said Vaidotas Jonutis, the Head of Trade Division of Baltpool.
By April 2, when trade in six-month transactions for the summer season ended, 15.4 thousand TOE of biomass were sold under long-term contracts in total, i.e. 3 times less than in the same period last year (49.6 thousand). Heat producers actively tried to buy fuel for the warm season, but biomass vendors were hesitant in concluding contracts this year.
The average price of biomass purchased under long-term contracts for the summer season of this year (133.24 EUR/TOE) was 16 percent lower compared to the average supply price in the last summer (157.87 EUR/TOE).
The lowest price of biomass supply under long-term contracts in the summer season 2019 was secured by Marijampolė County (124.00 EUR/TOE) and Vilnius County (125.15 EUR/TOE) heat production companies, while the highest price of biomass supply was in Telšiai County (147.00 EUR/TOE) and Klaipėda County (138.38 EUR/TOE). Contracts were concluded in 8 counties and the Curonian Spit.
At the end of March, the value of the wood chips index BWCS LT, which records the average price of contracts concluded in the biomass exchange in Lithuania during a week, was 137.67 EUR/TOE at the end of the month. During the month, the index change was insignificant, while over the year it decreased by almost 9 percent.
A Record in Latvia
In March, Latvian buyers purchased 22.5 percent more of biomass under one-week contracts in Kurzeme, Riga and Zemgale regions than in February. Value of concluded contracts reached 106 thousand Euro – the highest trade result in the regions of Latvia so far.