Prices of imported fuels slide, domestic fuels up in 2019

The prices of imported fuels mainly fell while the prices of domestic fuels rose in 2019, according to Statistics Finland.

The market price of electricity fell, but the rise in network service prices and the slow reaction of the obligation to deliver prices raised consumer prices.

The rise in the world market prices of crude oil that started in 2016 turned into decline in the latter part of 2018 and started to rise again in early 2019.

After that prices have varied, domestic consumer prices of liquid fuels have fluctuated as well.

In 2019, the price of light fuel oil (tax included) was, on average, one per cent lower than a year before.

In turn, the prices of motor gasoline and diesel oil were on average of one per cent higher than a year earlier.

The tax-free price of hard coal in Finland started to fall in summer 2019. In the last quarter of the year, the tax-free price of coal was around 30 per cent lower than one year previously.

The tax-free price of natural gas also started to decline in summer 2019 and was about 17 per cent lower than in the year before.

The taxation for combined heat and power production was changed from the beginning of 2019.

The halving of the carbon dioxide tax was discontinued, but it was replaced by a reduction in the energy content tax of fuels used in combined production.

The prices of domestic fuels rose from the previous year. The prices inclusive tax for forest chippings and milled peat were in December good four and eight per cent higher than one year before.

The rise in the price of milled peat was accelerated by tax increases at the beginning of the year.

The system price of the Nordic electricity exchange derived from the sell and buy bids on the exchange was high in January to February 2019 but started to decline in early spring.

The average system price for 2019 was 11 per cent and the area price for Finland six per cent lower than in 2018. During the past year, the Nordic water situation has normalised, and the price level of carbon dioxide emission rights has stabilised.

The electricity prices for household customers were around eight per cent higher in 2019 than in the previous year.

The corresponding price rise for enterprise customers was two per cent at its lowest and five per cent at its highest. The network service prices of electricity have risen in all customer groups.

Household customers’ electricity prices are based on the obligation to deliver prices published by the Energy Authority, while the prices of enterprise and corporate customers are based on Statistics Finland's price inquiry on electrical energy. The obligation to deliver price reacts slowly to changes in electricity prices on the Nordic electricity exchange.