+370 5 239 3157 
This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.
Biomass Exchange review – August 2019
2019 09 15
Prices of woodchips in August drop to reach the 2016 prices
In August, the turnover of the Baltpool Biomass Exchange decreased by 45% compared to July – from EUR 4.98 million to EUR 2.729 million. Similarly to July, the turnover dropped due to the decreased activity related to preparations for the winter season. Lithuanian heat suppliers have already secured the supply of 50.15% of the biomass required for the winter season under long-term contracts.
It should also be noted that the turnover decreased due to the fact that biomass prices are currently at their lowest over the past three years. In August, the value of concluded contracts for chopped wood (SM) reached the level recorded in 2016, when it amounted to 133.68 EUR/TOE, i.e. nearly the same as in August this year (134.19 EUR/TOE).
A total of 20,115 TOE of biomass was sold in August, which is a 45% decrease compared to July (35,368 TOE). Most of the biomass (54%) was purchased under one-week contracts, 22% was purchased under one-quarter and half-year contracts, and 24% was purchased under one-month contracts. The weighted price under all the concluded transactions in August was 5% lower compared to July (140.84 EUR/TOE v. 135.68 EUR/TOE). The annual price change was a 27% decrease compared to August 2018 (219.92 EUR/TOE).
In August, the BWCS LT index remained stable, similarly to the summer as a whole. In the course of the month, the value of the index underwent minor fluctuations from 121.56 EUR/TOE (6 August 2019) to 124.48 EUR/TOE (13 August 2019); the value of the index recorded at the end of the month was 120.89 EUR/TOE (27 August 2019). Comparison of the value recorded at the end of July (121.1 EUR/TOE) to the value recorded at the end of August shows that the index has decreased only slightly.
In August, the need for biomass deliveries dropped by nearly 5% compared to July (23,524 TOE). A total of 22,357 TOE of biomass was delivered. Fifty-eight per cent of biomass was delivered under one-week transactions, 21% was delivered under one-month transactions, and the remaining 21% was delivered under one-quarter and half-year transactions. In August, the price of delivered biomass did not undergo any major change and was 121.03 EUR/TOE, whereas the price delivered in July was 119.86 EUR/TOE (a 1% increase). In the same period last year, the price of biomass delivery was 32% higher, i.e. 160.26 EUR/TOE.