After what happened last winter, when the pellets has reached unprecedented prices, you look carefully at what will happen next year.
In this regard, to those who plan to buy a large quantity of pellets so as not to be caught unprepared, we recommend start looking right away the product you most want so that you can still snatch a competitive price. It is better to hurry: already today, in fact, i pellet prices I’m back in rise and the risk is that in a few weeks it will be very expensive to stock up for the winter.
What happened to the pellets
The war in Ukraine also had repercussions on the cost of pellets. Whoever has one knows it well biomass stove and suddenly saw the cost of pellets rise, which for a certain period was even unobtainable.
A lot of pellets has come to cost too 15 euros and only towards the end of winter, between March and April, did prices return to being affordable while remaining higher than in the pre-war period.
There are several reasons why pellets have increased so much, for example:
- rising fuel and transportation prices: in fact, it must be considered that Italy generally imports pellets (there are very few Italian products) and that transport costs account for about 50% of the cost of the product;
- increase in demand: thanks to the increase in the cost of gas, more and more families have chosen to switch to a biomass plant and consequently the demand for pellets has increased;
- offer reduction: at the same time, pellet-producing countries have reduced exports so as not to jeopardize domestic needs. For this reason, at a certain point, finding pellets with which to fuel your stove became very complicated;
- scarcity of raw material: to all this it must be added that wood is scarce throughout Europe, so much so that in the last period the cost has risen. And consequently, also that of pellets.
And we must also consider a percentage of speculation, as there have been traders who in the period of maximum demand have increased costs more and more, so as to make them reach prices even higher than 300% compared to the previous season. And in the meantime fuels made with alternative raw materials have come out: come on sunflowers to the nutuntil the corn.
So much so that at a certain moment it was even necessary to intervene by the government which with the 2023 Budget law reduced the VAT on pellets from 22% to 10%, but only until March. Today, therefore, for those who buy pellets, the tax has returned to being 22% and in fact, by looking around and questioning the retailers, we discovered that the pellet price curve – as well as the demand – has started to climb again.
Buying pellets now is convenient (but not for long)
Between March and April the prices of pellets returned to having a reasonable amount: for an excellent quality product, in fact, one could also spend 6.00 euros for a 15 kilo bag.
However, this should not suggest that the pellet emergency is over: already today, in fact, prices started to rise again. “In one week there was an increase of about 30 cents per sack”, explains a merchant, “we risk reaching 9 euros soon”, confirms another. The same version is given to us by all the dealers we have contacted in these hours, many of which have revealed to us
reservations until the end of June.
Which is why those who intend to buy enough fuel to stock up for winter 2024 must start looking right away: even today, on the other hand, it is still possible to find pellets ready for delivery at prices even lower than 6 euroswhile for high quality products – think, for example, of Austrian pellets – it reaches no more than 6.50 euros.
But the situation is evolving rapidly and the risk is that by waiting a few weeks the price will rise, reaching the thresholds already reached in last year’s pre-season, with the risk of having to settle for inferior products that risk compromising the functioning of the plant.
