OCTOBER 2018 ENERGY EXCHANGE: TRADE OVERVIEW

The trade turnover of BALTPOOL Biomass Exchange decreased from EUR 16.66 million to EUR 10.51 million in October, the amount of wood chips sold decreased by 37% compared to September. This could be explained by the fact that this month, i.e. on October 2, was the deadline for the conclusion of six-month supply contracts for the heating season. Compared to September, the amount of wood chips sold under long-term contracts decreased by 70% this month. However, compared to the previous month, the volume of biomass purchases by heat producers, whose purchase strategy is based on weekly and monthly contracts, doubled (to 30,990 toe). A more active SPOT market promoted competition between biomass sellers accordingly. Interestingly, after October 2, when the BWCS Lithuania index reached its highest point this year, i.e. 210.79 EUR/toe, the index began to decrease at the middle of the month, reaching 196.06 EUR/toe at the end of the month, i.e. it decreased by 7%.

Contracts concluded at auctions in October were distributed evenly: one-month supply contracts accounted for 35% of the total amount of contracts concluded, long-term supply contracts 32%, one-week contracts 17%, and the rest part were contracts for reserve product.