If you are waiting for cheaper coal at coal merchants, we do not have good news. The prospects of prices falling in the near future are slim. What will happen in the longer term? No one can predict this precisely.

Of course, the government assures us that there will be no shortage of coal and that imports will fill the gap. According to coal-merchant owners, imported coal is of poorer quality (finer and less calorific), and more of it has to be burned to obtain heat.

Government Coal Allowance

The government’s response to the difficult situation on the coal market is a coal allowance for households whose main heating source is coal. The allowance amounts to PLN 3,000. Unfortunately, given the current prices at coal merchants in the region, the allowance will not cover heating costs for the entire autumn and winter season. One tonne of coal will not be enough to heat a building during autumn and winter.

Information we obtained from one of the local coal merchants shows that good-quality coal is still available: Nut or Eco-pea coal priced at PLN 3,500 per tonne. However, supplies are running out, and it is not known what will happen next. Just one year ago, the same coal cost PLN 910 per tonne. The owner of the local coal merchant also does not know what will happen to his business or whether it will survive the winter. At the same time, he warns against blindly taking advantage of “attractive” online offers to buy coal. Such purchases require great caution. Fraudsters are exploiting the problems with coal. Many people, especially older people, have already been defrauded.

There is no coal priced at PLN 900 per tonne

Our source claims that coal sales by the mine are currently limited to 3 tonnes per purchase, at a price of PLN 1,400 per tonne. In addition, there is a wait of up to a week in the queue (trucks standing outside the mine), as well as very high transport costs. Many coal merchants have already closed or stopped selling coal. Meanwhile, some people (retail customers), having believed the government’s assurances about cheaper coal, are delaying their purchases and continue asking coal merchants about coal priced at PLN 900... But coal at that price simply does not exist.

According to our source, waiting for lower prices makes no sense because coal will run out anyway. Only part of the coal brought in by ship is so-called lump coal. Most of the imported coal is fine coal (slack) intended for district heating plants and power companies.

Bogusław Ziętek, Chairman of the August ’80 Trade Union, goes even further in his statements. In an interview with the WNP.PL portal, he says directly:

There will be a shortage of around four million tonnes of coal this year for individual and municipal consumers. We must get used to the fact that we will not buy coal for PLN 900 per tonne, because it simply is not there. This needs to be told to people instead of lying that some additional coal will reach individual consumers this winter.

Polska Grupa Górnicza is creating a network of qualified coal distributors (KDW)

The coal is to be purchased directly from the PGG online store, while distributors are to provide transport and hand the coal over to customers. Will this move solve the problems with coal?

As we read on the dlahandlu.pl website:

As announced, KDW distributors will deliver coal to a coal merchant located in the area where the customer lives, while the entire sales transaction will be carried out by the PGG S.A. store. The KDW network of coal merchants will be distributed throughout the country, which will significantly facilitate customers’ collection of coal ordered from PGG S.A., without the need to arrange transport themselves.

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