Image: Volker Weihbold
Enormous price increases burdened pellet customers in Austria in the previous year. In October, a ton even cost an average of 634 euros. A classic household needs five to six tons per year (deviations depending on size, building standard, etc.). The number of households with pellet heating systems rose by 22,000 to 184,000 in 2022 (40,000 in Upper Austria). The previous year’s increase had been 12,000.
Since autumn, the average price determined by the industry association proPellets has fallen by almost a third to 436 euros in February. Many households will store pellets in the spring after the heating season. “And the campaigns that traditionally take place for storage in March and April should lead to further falling prices,” says proPellets Managing Director Christian Rakos. Can’t say how far. He recommends households to secure a good price once the promotions really take off. According to him, the suppliers give discounts because it is important for them to fix all orders in the spring in order to be able to deliver the pellets in a logistically optimal way.
299 euros for regular customers
The Sturmberger Group in Wartberg an der Krems sold pellets for a week in February at a price of 299 euros per ton – but only to regular customers in the vicinity. The campaign relieved the warehouse and saved travel costs, says Marion Wegmaier, head of the pellets division at Sturmberger: “There will probably be other selective campaigns.” However, this is more difficult across the board this year due to the unstable market and price development.
Ulrike Weiß, Head of Consumer Protection at the Upper Austrian Chamber of Labour, says: “The trend in prices is right. We expect it to go down even further.” Some companies register prices with the AK. As of February 21, the prices per ton are between 369 and 439 euros, the filling flat rates between 42 and 68.60 euros. In May 2021, AK recorded a record low with an average of 215 euros per ton (proPellets 219). The prices are now much higher than they were back then. There is criticism of that.
Rakos argues that panic buying and the lack of Russian quantities on the European market drove up prices last year. The production costs (energy, chips) remained high. It probably won’t be as cheap as it used to be. He rejects agreements that prices in Austria were significantly lower than in other countries. As reported, the Federal Competition Authority is investigating whether there was a cartel.
win cards
On Friday, March 3rd, the energy saving fair in Wels opens its doors. The OÖ Nachrichten and Linz AG raffle among all subscribers 1000 times two tickets. You can take part at nachrichten.at/gewinnspiele. There we are also giving away charging stations and household appliances.
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