Industrial players paying price for energy supply agreement delays

Industrial producers who have prolonged their energy-supply negotiations and delayed signing new agreements now face drastically deteriorated conditions prompted by an alarming price surge.

Highlighting the unfavorable turn in market conditions, one small-scale industrial consumer is believed to have just signed a new high-voltage supply agreement at a price level of approximately 120 euros per MWh, about 30 percent higher than levels of just a few months ago and considerably higher than supply agreements reached early in the summer.

Power utility PPC managed to move fast enough to incorporate hedging agreements to these deals as protection against price rises, a crucial decision given the current conditions.

A number of large-scale industrial players have yet to reach electricity supply agreements, finding themselves fully exposed to the sharp price rises, caused by a combination of unfavorable factors in international markets.

Mid-voltage industrial producers find themselves in even more discomforting positions as electricity price rises for this category have been even steeper, reaching levels of 125 euros per MWh in July and 150 euros per MWh in August.

The adverse market conditions help explain Hellenic Petroleum ELPE’s recent decision to not sign a new supply agreement with PPC, turning instead to group member Elpedison for its electricity needs.

Increased electricity and natural gas costs are severely impacting the competitiveness of industrial producers, expected to pass on these increased costs to their product prices.