Power, gas, fuel prices go up in Q3

The prices of electricity, natural gas and hard coal increased strongly in the third quarter, according to Statistics Finland.

By contrast, the rise in the price of crude oil levelled off. The rise in the price of natural gas and hard coal reflected world market prices. The rise in fuel prices was also reflected in the price of electricity, because electricity was produced with fuels in a poor water situation.

The increase in the price of oil products imported to Finland evened out and the price of crude oil returned to its pre-corona level in the third quarter.

The rise in the consumer prices of liquid fuels continued. The price of motor gasoline went up by four per cent, that of diesel by two per cent and the price of light fuel oil by four per cent from July to September. Compared with September of the previous year, the price of motor gasoline was 19 per cent higher, that of diesel 22 per cent higher and the price of light fuel oil 45 per cent higher.

Coal and natural gas are imported to Finland mainly to be used in energy production. The tax-free import price of hard coal was around 60 per cent higher in the third quarter than in the second quarter. The rising price trend is clear. Compared to one year ago, the price was more than double.

Comparable price data on natural gas start from the beginning of the year. The tax-free price of natural gas was around 56 per cent higher in the third quarter than in the second quarter. The rising trend of natural gas prices is also clear. From July to September, the price went up by around 40 per cent. The rise percentages of taxable prices are smaller. The excise duty on power plant fuels rose at the beginning of the year.

The rise in the price of forest chippings halted in the third quarter. Compared with the third quarter of last year, the price of chippings had gone up by four per cent.

In the early part of 2021, the area price for Finland on the electricity market had risen from the record low level of June 2020 to the level of 2019.

In summer the rise in prices grew stronger. In September 2021, the average system price was record high and the monthly area price for Finland was close to the records of 2010. In just over a year, the system price thus rose from a record low level to record high. Price variation is characteristic of the electricity market. As the volume of renewable production grows, price variation increases. In addition to the poor water situation, the current situation is affected by the high demand for electricity in Central Europe.

The rise in electricity market prices was also visible in the risen consumer prices of electricity. Households' obligation to deliver prices rose by four to seven per cent from one year ago. Compared with the previous quarter, the rise amounted to a few per cent.

The prices for enterprise customers also went up by 6 to 26 per cent from the previous quarter. Compared with the year before, the price change was not uniform. This is because of the source used. 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.

The compilation of price statistics on sod peat has to be discontinued because data could not be collected from sufficiently many data suppliers. The price of milled peat is not published for the same reason. Efforts are made to expand the data collection of sod peat prices.