Pellet prices in Germany fell to a two-year low in December. In some federal states, wood pellets cost less than 300 euros per ton. Pellet prices don't seem to be going any further down in December. In the national average, prices are moving sideways at a new low. Overall, these are the lowest pellet prices in about 2 years. However, the price drop, which was exceptional for the current heating season, appears to be gradually coming to an end. In any case, the fact is: In most federal states, prices fell well below the previous annual lows. But since then prices have been going sideways with slight fluctuations. In concrete terms, this means that in November the price decline for wood pellets accelerated significantly again, contrary to all forecasts. Things fell sharply again, especially in the second half of November.<\/p>\n
The federal average cost of wood pellets at heizpellets24 was around \u20ac308\/t in the first week of December. Pellet dealer Emil Sopper from Baywa explains the development as follows: \u201cWe have a functioning market for pellet prices.\u201d Demand has fallen because existing customers' warehouses are now full. \u201cNew customers or large commercial customers who consume more are now buying,\u201d Sopper told Handelsblatt.<\/p>\n
The market development on the holzpellets.net platform is similar, but not identical: Here the downward trend continues until December 7th, although the price level is slightly higher. Wood pellets at holzpellets.net cost 314.30 \u20ac\/t on December 7th, continuing to fall, at heizpellets24.de it is 309.69 \u20ac\/t, with a stable sideways development<\/p>\n
A few weeks ago, pellet experts did not believe that the previous annual low could even be reached. However, these doubts have vanished into thin air. \u201cThe heating season has begun and the price of pellets is falling. This is a good signal for consumers. Heating with pellets means security of supply with a domestic energy source, which is also confirmed by the high production volume in the third quarter of 2023,\u201d says Martin Bentele, Managing Director of DEPI, explaining the price slide<\/p>\n
Low wood prices and plenty of wood pellets<\/strong><\/p>\n An important reason for the persistently low pellet prices was probably the sharp fall in the price of wood and wood by-products. The fall in prices observed on the wood market is initially also putting pressure on the prices for other wood products such as wood pellets. In addition, the domestic production of wood pellets, which grew significantly last year, apparently exceeds the domestic demand of private customers and commercial customers (which has also grown significantly), say pellet experts. In 2023, the expansion of pellet heating systems fell by almost 50%, which means the production surplus will continue to grow.<\/p>\n This also put a lot of pressure on pellet prices and prevented or significantly slowed down an increase. \u201cDue to the fall in wood prices, sales of construction wood could also pick up again,\u201d says Martin Bentele from DEPI to the Handelsblatt. The expert suspects that more sawmill waste would then be produced for pellet production and that prices would continue to be kept low. \u201cThe pellet manufacturers are planning additional plants, but it takes an average of two years until these are operational and more can be produced,\u201d says Bentele.<\/p>\n Many customers have already stocked up<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cMany customers are already too well stocked to become active on the market again despite the attractive prices. The numerous new owners of pellet heating systems who have since put the devices into operation after the boom in applications for subsidies in August 2022 have also completed their initial stockpiling,\u201d say the experts at Heizpellets24, explaining the price decline that lasted until December.<\/p>\n Above all, in 2023 many customers had stocked up on pellets much earlier than usual, which further reduces the quantities currently purchased. \u201cIn view of the intact downward trend, another customer group is speculating on even cheaper pellet prices and could be successful,\u201d say pellet experts. At the beginning of December, wood pellets in Bavaria, Baden-W\u00fcrttemberg and Hesse sometimes cost less than 300 euros per ton and in many other countries only slightly more. Wood pellets are by far the most expensive in Bremen as well as in Lower Saxony and Schleswig-Holstein at 320 to 332 \u20ac\/t at heizpellets24. At holzpellets.net the frontrunners are Bremen, Lower Saxony and NRW with prices between 355 and 360 \u20ac\/t.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Pellet prices in Germany fell to a two-year low in December. In some federal states, wood pellets cost less than 300 euros per ton. Pellet prices don’t seem to be going any further down in December. In the national average, … Continue reading