The price of wood pellets continued to fall in February, but at a slower rate than before.

The price of wood pellets in Germany continued to fall slightly in February. According to the German Pellet Institute (DEPI), the average price was €314.30 per tonne. This is 3.9% less than in the previous month. Compared to the same month last year, when pellet prices were on a rapid descent from their record highs, it is even 27% less.

This means that a kilowatt hour of heat from pellets costs 6.29 cents. There is a price advantage of 40 % compared to heating oil and 36 % compared to natural gas.

Online trade with prices below 300 €/t

The average daily prices on the online platforms heizpellets24 and holzpellets.net have been below 300 €/t for some time now and are continuing to fall slowly. heizpellets24.de reported an average price of 294.94 €/t on 16 February. At holzpellets.net it was 298.59 €/t on the same day.

Experts assume that the pellet price will continue to fall until around the middle of the year, to around €275 to €280 per tonne. This level is already being reached on the trading platforms in some federal states, with heizpellets24.de reporting an average of €271.12/t for Bavaria and holzpellets.net reporting €288.85/t for Baden-Württemberg as the lowest average prices on 16 February.

The highest average prices by federal state are still above 300 €/t on both platforms.

DEPI regional prices lowest in the south

In February 2024, the DEPI reports the following regional differences in pellet prices (purchase 6 tonnes): In the South region, the price is the lowest at 310.07 €/t euro/t. This is followed by Central Germany with a price per tonne of €316.76/t, while in Northern and Eastern Germany it is €321.64/t.

Larger quantities (26 tonnes) will be traded at the following conditions in February 2024 South: 294.35 €/t, Centre: 298.76 €/t and North/East: 311.15 €/t (all prices incl. VAT).

Source: DEPI