Solid biofuel prices show a downward trend

Like every quarter, Avebiom prepares the price index for solid biofuels for domestic use to end customers . The information is obtained by telephone survey of different distribution companies and the data presented below results from them.

wood pellet

In the fourth quarter of 2020, pellet prices for domestic uses decreased slightly to reach levels very similar to those of the previous quarter in all the formats analyzed except for bulk tanks, which have increased by 1%.

Despite the two weeks of intense cold caused by “Filomena”, it is not a winter of low temperatures and the factories continue to sell stock from the previous campaign. This is one of the reasons why prices remain contained instead of seeing the usual increases at this time of year.

In the Levant and southern Spain the temperatures have been abnormally high, which, together with the withdrawal of tourism in these areas - where there are many second homes with stoves installed - has also led to lower pellet consumption than usual.

If the current situation continues, prices may drop even further and stock will accumulate for the next campaign.

At the moment, the pellet prices in Q4 and cumulative 2020 are:

15 kg bag: -0.6% (from €4.36/bag to €4.34/bag), accumulating a decrease at the end of the year of -1.2%.
Full pallet: -0.9% (from €283.37/t to €280.78/t) The accumulated change in 2020 has been -1.7%.
Bulk in dump truck: -0.2% in Q4 and -2.3% variation in 2020
Bulk in tanker truck: 1% in Q4 but -2.9% accumulated during 2020

The average prices to the final consumer include 21% VAT and an average transport of 200 km in bulk format. Pellet prices have been requested in three different formats: 15 kg bags, pallet of bags (€/tn) and bulk pellet price (€/tn); and classes A1 and A2 are considered, corresponding to the ISO 17225-2 standard.

Prices are expressed in €/tn and c€/kWh; This last unit of measurement facilitates comparisons with the costs of fossil fuels such as diesel or natural gas. To calculate the cost per energy content, a calorific value of the pellet of 4100 kcal/kg (4.76 kWh/kg) has been considered.

Transport has been calculated with the most recent coefficients published by the “Observatory of costs of road freight transport”, published by the Ministry of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda.

To obtain the mean values, extreme values that are more than 3 times the standard deviation from the mean have been discarded.

olive pit

Olive pit prices during the fourth quarter of 2020 were once again stable compared to the previous quarter and practically unchanged throughout the year.

Given last season's olive harvest, which was larger than that of 2019, the medium-term trend will be towards stability in prices or even a slight decrease if the weather remains the same. That is to say:

Individual bag: 0.4% in Q4, but has decreased -0.1% during the 2020 period.
Full pallet: 0.8% in Q4, and 0.1% throughout the year.
Bulk in dump truck: -1% in Q4, and decrease of -0.8% throughout the year.
Bulk in tanker truck: -0.5% in Q4 and decrease of -0.5% throughout the year.

The sales formats sampled are the same as those for wood pellets except for the bag, which for this biofuel frequently varies in weight. An average transport of 200 km is also established for bulk materials.

Classes A1 and A2 of the Spanish standard for bone, UNE 164003, or its equivalent in the BIOmasud certification, class A, have been considered and prices have been requested for the current quarter.

To calculate the cost by energy content, a calorific value of the olive pit of 4,100 kcal/kg (4.76 kWh/kg) has been considered.

wood chip

Regarding sliver, prices are very stable and at very similar levels since the beginning of this index in 2014.

The average price varies slightly; -0.8% compared to the previous quarter, leaving the ton at €110.33, only €0.63 above the average of the entire historical series (€109.70/tn).

The standardized types A1 and A2 have been considered according to the ISO 17225-4 standard, with humidity less than 35% and granulometry P31S – P45S (G30 of the old Önorm). In this case, a 100 km transport has been considered.

To calculate the cost per energy content, a calorific value of the chip of 3,800 kcal/kg (4.42 kWh/kg) has been considered.