This year, the rising prices of domestic natural gas and coal as well as the "tide of power rationing" have attracted much attention from ceramic people. Recently, natural gas and electricity prices have also risen and "oil shortages" have occurred abroad.
On October 6, CCTV-2's financial channel focused on the energy crises in Europe and India in the morning "First Time" and the evening "Economic Information Broadcast" columns.
The rise in natural gas and electricity prices has greatly affected ceramic companies in Europe and India. It is understood that the European Ceramics Association is actively seeking hydrogen energy; while thousands of ceramic companies in India have been hit by rising electricity and natural gas prices.
European natural gas surges 400%
European Ceramics Association seeks hydrogen energy
On October 5, the November contract trading price of the European natural gas trading benchmark "Dutch TTF Center" was approximately 118 euros (approximately RMB 879.63) per megawatt hour, a month-on-month increase of more than 20%, setting another record high . This price has increased by nearly 400% since the beginning of the year.
In the UK, the wholesale cost of natural gas has soared particularly seriously. On the 5th, the November contract price increased by 14%. At the same time, the wholesale price of natural gas for immediate delivery in the UK increased by 23%. In September alone, 9 A small energy company collapsed.
In Germany, the inflation rate in September rose by 4.1% compared with the same period last year, with the price increases of natural gas and electricity being particularly obvious.
Data recently released by the German Federal Statistical Office show that in the first half of 2021, the average electricity bill for private households in Germany was 32.62 euro cents (approximately RMB 2.43) per kilowatt hour, and the average natural gas cost was 6.41 euro cents per kilowatt hour (approximately RMB 2.43). (equivalent to RMB 0.48), compared with the second half of 2020, both electricity and natural gas prices increased by 4.7%.
In Europe, natural gas is mainly used for heating and power generation, and European natural gas prices and electricity prices have been rising for months. In response, Spain proposed the establishment of an EU natural gas reserve and jointly called with France to reform the EU energy market and decouple natural gas prices from electricity prices.
Currently, some public opinion in Europe blames Russia for rising energy prices, believing that Gazprom has the ability to increase the amount of natural gas delivered to Europe. In this regard, Russian President Putin stated at the Russian Government Energy Development Conference on the 5th that the current chaos in the European energy market is due toIt is caused by factors such as European countries' blind reduction of investment in energy extraction.
Putin said: “Why is the European energy market in madness and chaos? Because no one takes this problem seriously. Some people use climate change to make profits, some people underestimate the possible impact, and some people start to reduce their support for the extractive industry. investment.”
The energy crisis in Europe has caused a chain reaction. The British business analysis and consulting company CRU Group believes that judging from the current natural gas prices and futures prices, the profits of many factories in Western Europe, Eastern Europe and Ukraine will be negative, and it is expected to further Close the factory.
European ceramic companies all use natural gas to bake ceramic tile products. The rising natural gas prices this year have also caused the costs of European ceramic companies to rise. According to media reports, European ceramic companies are seeking new energy sources. Several Spanish ceramic associations have recently participated in a project to replace natural gas with hydrogen energy. The project is expected to be put into operation in 2024.
The price of imported thermal coal in India has tripled
A 63% surge in electricity prices affects thousands of ceramic companies
Indian energy department officials recently stated that as of October 1, 72 of the 135 power plants monitored had less than 3 days of coal storage, and 50 power plants had only 4-10 days of coal storage. The coal stocks of 13 power plants can be maintained for more than 10 days.
The main reason for the sudden tight supply of coal-fired power plants in India is the unprecedented increase in domestic electricity demand starting in April this year. At the same time, domestic coal production in India has resulted in the suspension of production of many coal mines due to the rainy season, as well as poor inter-state coal transportation and other factors, which have led to continuous reductions in coal-fired inventories.
Indian energy department officials said that the shortage of coal supply for coal-fired power plants is expected to gradually improve until March next year.
In addition, international coal prices have doubled, making Indian coal-fired power plants worry about coal. Sharma, executive director of India's Jindal Steel and Power Group, said: "The price of thermal coal imported from South Africa (a year ago) was 60 US dollars (about 386 yuan) per ton, and now the price (per ton) has risen to 180 US dollars (about 1,160 yuan), sometimes even 210 US dollars (about 1,353 yuan), which is a huge increase, equivalent to a three-fold increase."
According to India's Coal Minister Anil Kumar Jain, there is currently a daily supply shortage of 60,000-80,000 tons to power plants due to prolonged rainfall that has left coal pits soaked.
70% of India’s electricity comes from coal, and it is the world’s second largest coal importer. The price of imported coal has tripled, causing a sharp rise in India’s domestic electricity prices. The average electricity price on the Indian Energy Exchange in September rose by 63%. %, rising electricity prices are also affecting thousands of ceramic companies in India.
At the same time, India's ceramic companies are also under pressure from rising natural gas. It is understood that since August 24, the price of natural gas per cubic meter in the Morbi ceramic production area in India has increased by approximately 5 rupees (approximately RMB 0.43).
In this regard, the relevant person in charge of the Morbi Ceramics Association pointed out: "This price increase will increase the factory's production costs by 7%-8%, and may force nearly 30% of the factories in the Morbi ceramic production area to suspend production. ”
Britain’s “oil shortage” causes cement trucks to be tracked
C Luo’s luxury car has been waiting for nearly 7 hours but still not refueled
Europe's energy crisis also left British gas stations without fuel, and caused a truck carrying cement to be mistaken for being loaded with fuel and followed by 20 vehicles.
The truck driver being followed was named Johnny Anderson. On the day of the incident, he was pulling more than 40 tons of cement from Bilston, England to a construction site in Northamptonshire, more than 100 kilometers away. After arriving at his destination, Anderson got out of the car and found about 20 cars following him. It turned out that these cars thought his car was filled with fuel, and some car owners asked him which gas station he planned to transport the fuel to.
In addition, according to British media reports, the famous football player Ronaldo, who joined the British club Manchester United this year, recently purchased a Bentley luxury car and was driven by a driver to Wilms, a few miles away from Ronaldo's residence. The Luo gas station was ready to refuel, but the driver waited at the gas station from 14:20 in the afternoon until 21:00 in the evening, but still had no fuel. Finally, the driver, who had been waiting for nearly 7 hours, had to leave in frustration.
The "oil shortage" in the UK is largely caused by a logistics crisis. Last week, the British government said it would issue 300 six-month visas to foreign oil truck drivers, allowing them to enter the UK immediately to work and will be valid until March next year.
However, on the 5th local time, the British government confirmed that the above 300 emergencyFor emergency temporary visas, only 27 applications have been received so far, less than 10%.
The person in charge of the European Road Transport Association said that there is currently a shortage of drivers throughout Europe. Drivers' wages in continental Europe are generally higher than those in the UK. Simply issuing temporary visas in the UK is not enough to solve the local logistics crisis.
(Article reproduced from Ceramic Information)
