Germany imported 0.9% less natural gas in the first seven months of 2021, but its bill rose 46.5% compared with a year earlier, data from trade statistics office BAFA showed. Traders of gas, power and carbon monitor gas imports because the supply and demand balance can change prices and traded volumes in all three markets. Gas supply is currently tight which has sent prices spiralling and there is uncertainty over the timing of arrival of Russian supplies from the new Nord Stream 2 pipeline. Gas statistics correlate with coal, which competes with gas in the production of electricity, while also giving clues about demand for mandatory European carbon emissions permits. BAFA’s monthly figures showed Germany’s imports in the first seven months of the year were 3,065,578 Terajoules (TJ) compared with 3,094,263 TJ a year earlier. Importers’ bills stood at 14.5 billion euros ($17.04 billion), versus 9.9 billion in the same period in 2020.
The average price paid per TJ on the border in the period was up 48.5% year-on-year at 4,737.58 euros, BAFA said. In July alone, the price was 5,912.89 euros, equivalent to 2.13 cents per kilowatt hour (kWh), and up 146.2% year-on-year. Germany, Europe’s biggest economy, mainly imports gas from Russia, Norway, the Netherlands, Britain and Denmark via pipelines. German gas stocks were at 63.3% of available storage capacity on Tuesday, European gas infrastructure group GIE’s website showed, compared with 94.1% a year ago.