"Poland is the only country in the European Union where the retail price of diesel increased in relation to both the previous week and month. Fuels in this country, excluding taxes, are more expensive than the EU average," writes Marcin Lipka, Conotoxia Senior Analyst.
Petrol on the European ARA market (Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp) last week cost about 1.42-1.46 PLN per litre. These are the lowest prices in several months. In early October, a litre of fuel was about 0.65-0.70 PLN more expensive.
However, this trend is also very similar in domestic refineries, where the popular "95" costs (without discounts) 3.46 PLN per litre (including excise duty and fuel fee, but excluding VAT and retail margin). Just like on the European market, these are the lowest prices since July 2017 and about 0.65 PLN below those seen in the first days of October.
Diesel prices decline too. The reductions started less than two months ago but gained a stronger pace 5 weeks ago. At that time, prices on the ARA market were reduced by about 0.50 PLN per litre, and at present, this fuel costs 1.84 PLN.
Diesel cheaper almost everywhere except in Poland
The latest data of the European Commission (from November 26th this year) shows that in 27 out of 28 EU countries the price of one litre of diesel has decreased in the last month. On average it fell by 3.5 euro cents. These are not spectacular drops, but retail fuels usually react with a delay to price movements in the wholesale market. Compared to last week, the decrease was 1.7 euro cent.
On the list of EU countries, Poland is the only exception. Only in this country, during the last month, did the price of a litre of diesel rise by 0.063 PLN to 5.27 PLN. Moreover, also in relation to last week (November 19th) only in Poland, there was an increase in prices. It was limited (0.003 PLN), but given that the wholesale price has been falling for several weeks and all EU countries have seen reductions, this may be worrying news.
Price excluding taxes the highest in EU
The cost for Polish drivers is decreasing but at a dreadful pace. During the month, the price has fallen by only 0.08 PLN, and according to EC data it currently amounts to 5.00 PLN per litre. Average prices in the EU decreased by 5.5 euro cent (0.235 PLN). Solid drops occurred, e.g. in Bulgaria, where the popular 95 depreciated by as much as 14 cents (0.60 PLN) and costs about 4.50 PLN per litre (2.06 lev). In Belgium, France and Denmark falls reached 8-10 euro cent. It was in just three out of four countries, that had protests related to high fuel prices.
The very slow pace of price reductions also highlighted another unpleasant issue. The European Commission publishes retail prices of fuels without taxes, but with retail and wholesale margins.
A litre of unleaded petrol in Poland costs 55.7 euro cent (2.40 PLN) and is more expensive than in Belgium (50 euro cent), Estonia (51.6 euro cent), France (52 euro cent), Luxembourg (52.5 euro cent), Portugal (54.4 euro cent), Sweden (52.1 euro cent), Hungary (51 euro cent) and several other countries. The price in Poland is also very close to the weighted average price throughout the Union (56.1 euro cent).
Diesel in Poland, excluding taxes, is one of the most expensive in the whole EU and costs 65.6 euro cent per litre (2.82 PLN), with the weighted average price in the EU at 64.9. In only 10 out of 28 EU countries, diesel is more expensive than in Poland. Considering that diesel sells 3-4 times more than unleaded petrol, the average price of fuels without taxes in Poland has become higher than the EU average.