The prices of oil products imported to Finland continued to rise in the second quarter. This also has an effect on the rise in the prices of liquid fuels.
According to figures released by Statisitcs Finland, the price of motor gasoline was 21% higher and that of diesel oil 26% higher in June than one year earlier. These were also affected by the tax increases that took effect last year in August.
The price of light fuel oil rose in June by as much as 34% from twelve months back.
But not only fuels derived from oil have increased their prices. The import price of hard coal has been clearly higher this year than last year. In June, the tax-free price was 21% higher and the price including excise duty was 12% higher than one year previously. The rise in the price including excise duty was also affected by the tax increase at the beginning of the year.
The rise in the price of forest chippings also continued in the second quarter. Compared with the second quarter of the year before, the price was 4% higher. The tax-free price of milled peat was falling slightly, but due to the tax increases at the beginning of the year, its price including excise duty rose by 15% over the corresponding period.
In June 2021, the system price of the electricity exchange derived from the sell and buy bids on the exchange and the area price for Finland were close to the average price for 2018 and 2019. However, compared with June last year, the system price was nearly 13 times higher in June and the area price for Finland double. Prices were exceptionally low in the Nordic electricity market in 2020.
Electricity prices on the rise
The rise in the market prices of electricity was also visible in the two to five per cent rise in consumer prices of electricity in the second quarter compared with the prices of last year’s second quarter.
For industry customers, there was dispersion in price changes. For the smallest consumers, prices fell by three to eight per cent over the same period, due to the lowering of the industry electricity tax at the beginning of the year.
Changes in the electricity exchange are more clearly reflected in the prices of bigger consumers and their prices were 13-19% higher in June than in last year's June.
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.
