Less increase of fuel prices than tax hike in Q3

Energy prices were lower in the third quarter of 2020 compared to the corresponding quarter of the year before, excepting the forest chippings, according to the Statistics Finland.

The magnitude of the drop in prices varied by energy source. The biggest change occurred in the prices of crude oil.

The excise duty on liquid transport fuels rose at the beginning of August. The price effect of the tax change is estimated to be on average 5.3 cents per litre for motor gasoline and its substitutes and 5,6 cents per litre for diesel and its substitutes. The tax will pass on to consumer prices over a longer period .

Despite the tax increase in August, the price of motor gasoline was six per cent lower in September and that of diesel oil nearly 11 per cent lower than one year earlier. The corresponding drop in the price of light fuel oil was 28 per cent. Consumer prices were at their lowest in May.

The world market price of crude oil rose and evened out to good USD 40 per barrel after the price plunge in March. The current price level is around two-thirds of the previous year's price level.

The fluctuation in the import price of hard coal in the early part of the year turned to a downward trend in the summer. In the third quarter of the year, the tax-free price of hard coal was almost one quarter lower than one year previously.

The gas market in Finland was liberalised at the beginning of 2020.

Of domestic fuels, the rise in the price of forest chippings turned to a slight decrease in the third quarter of the year.

Compared with the previous quarter, the price was one percentage point lower. Compared to the third quarter of 2019, the price was five per cent higher. The price of milled peat also decreased slightly. Compared with both the previous quarter and one year ago, the price of milled peat was around one per cent lower.