Update on LCO2 Supply – Wednesday 01.03.2023
I am pleased to say we seem to have reached a point of equilibrium relating to the CO2 Surcharge and Dry Ice prices.
As you have no doubt seen on the news the gas price is back to where it was before the CO2 shortage, so the surcharge is now just ensuring that supplies are available when needed, rather than when available, and that all other cost increases are covered. For this reason we think it is unlikely to go much below its current level.
The price of dry ice is not only dictated by the cost of CO2 as all the other price rises that have come our way lately have also have an effect, especially the price of electricity as dry ice production machines are heavy users. The volume of dry ice produced is also a big factor as production machines take time to cool down to their ideal operating temperature, making small runs more expensive to produce.
As we cannot see that the gas price will drop much lower than its current level, and that all other factors affecting the price of dry ice are unlikely to go down, we expect our CO2 costs, which today are just fractionally lower than last month, to remain much the same looking forward.
We will therefore maintain our current dry ice prices throughout March and most likely the coming months.
Update on LCO2 Supply – Friday 10.02.2023
This message replaces the one issued last Friday as we have taken the decision to revert back to a two tier price structure now that the CO2 surcharge appears to be stabilising.
Our Website price for supplies in Polyboxes will remain as posted on www.dryicenetwork.co.uk.
From today (10.02.22) the basic price for bulk orders over 100 kg will be reduced to £2.00 per kg. Bagging, packing and transport charges will be applied as to date.
All prices will be carefully reviewed at the end of every month as we believe the surcharge will continue its current downward trend. We hope that lower prices will show an upturn in demand which will then allow us to re-introduce quantity discounts.
Our supplier confirms that, despite many sources of CO2 being currently off line, their supplies are still robust and available on demand.
Please call our team on 0116 224 0072 to discuss your specific case in more detail.
Update on LCO2 Supply – Friday 03.02.2023
The good news is that the surcharge has fallen back to the level we had before the unexpected year end peak but unfortunately the not so good news is that our CO2 stock is sufficient to cover current orders until at least 7th February.
The new price from 8th February, when our website price also changes, will be reduced to £2.30 per kg.
Our supplier adjusts the surcharge on a monthly basis to ensure that CO2 is available to all users when required, so once again we can confirm that the supply situation remains strong, but again with the usual provisos that are explained below.
Update on LCO2 Supply – Tuesday January 3rd
Happy New Year to you all!
In December we held our November price firm despite a 17% increase in our supply surcharge as our LCO2 stock was sufficient to cover a good part of the lower December demand, but primarily because we were expecting a lower TTF price for 2023.
The TTF price was 70 in February 2022, peaked at 340 in August and is now back down to 70 which is why we were expecting a better outlook for 2023. However, the surcharge applied to our CO2 supplies to ensure delivery on demand is a mixture of all the costs related to CO2 production and despite the low TTF value the surcharge is now up 66% over the November figure used as the base for our November and December prices. Therefore, with regret, we must now increase our price to £2.65 per kg.
The new price will come into effect for all orders places from today. Deliveries made today to Customers with orders based on the old price will be held at the November price, but we will contact you to discuss any future orders on our books.
Thankfully, the supply situation has been confirmed as remaining strong, but with the usual provisos that are explained on “Buy Dry Ice” at www.dryicenetwork.co.uk where there are links to the TTF and ZTP indices on which our supply surcharge is based.
Please call our team on 0116 224 0072 for any additional information.
Update on LCO2 Supply – Monday December 5th.
The surcharge went up on Friday against our expectations of a further decrease, but in view of the short month ahead and good current stock we have decided to maintain our dry ice price at £2.25/kg through to the New Year.
We hope this decision brings some good cheer for the coming seasonal celebrations and wish you all the best for 2023.
The supply situation has been confirmed as remaining strong, but with the usual provisos that are explained below where there are links to the TTF and ZTP indices on which our supplies are based.
Please call our team on 0116 224 0072 for any additional information.
Update on LCO2 Supply – Friday November 4th.
Thankfully the gas prices have started to stabilise, presumably because most of Europe now has sufficient winter stocks making the forward outlook lower in demand, and therefore lower in price.
The November fixing will reduce our price for Dry Ice to £2.25/kg for new orders placed for delivery from Monday 7th November, and our LCO2 suppler confirms a strong supply situation.
As before, we will update this message whenever news comes through. You can also see the full sequence of events on the LCO2 supply situation below where there are links to the TTF and ZTP indices on which our prices are based.
If you have any questions please call our team on 0116 224 0072.
Update on LCO2 Supply – Monday October 3rd.
I am pleased to announce that we have now returned to a monthly price fixing which, as was advised last week, will hold for the coming month if the average of the TTF/ZTP indices remains below 160. At the close of trading on Friday Oct 31st the average was 134.
The October fixing will reduce the price for Dry Ice to £2.75/kg for new orders placed from today. Unfortunately, the orders already booked for this week will remain at last week’s price as we still have sufficient LCO2 stock to complete them.
As before, we will update this message whenever news comes through.
Update on LCO2 Supply – Tuesday Sept 27th.
This morning we were advised that the Ammonia Surcharge that has been applied weekly throughout September will be replaced in October by the previous “Fuel & Energy – Floating Adjustment” that was fixed in the past on a monthly basis. This arrangement will continue unless the combined weekly average of the TTF and ZTP Indices exceeds 160 €/MWh. For clarity please see the definitions below:
TTF = TitleTransfer facility Natural Gas Index is the volume weighted aveage price of all trades executed in all spot contracts for Natural gas that deliver on a day expressed in €/MWh.
See: https://tradingeconomics.com/commodity/eu-natural-gas
ZTP = European Gas Spot Index is an assessment of the ZTP European Gas Spot Index Day-Ahead price, expressed in €/MWh which includes LNG.
See: https://www.powernext.com/spot-market-data
The TTF/ZTPadjustment will come into force for LCO2 delivered from October 1st. We will give a price update on the new basis on October 3rd. In the meantime the Ammonia Surcharge has dropped for its final week allowing us to reduce our Dry Ice price to £4.00/kg after we get our new delivery tonight.
As usual, we will update this message whenever news comes through.
If you have any questions please call our team on 0116 224 0072.
Update on the Ammonia Surcharge – Tuesday Sept 20th.
The new Ammonia Surcharge applicable to LCO2 purchases made this week was set over the weekend and showed a slight reduction. Unfortunately, we filled our tank last week and are unlikely to need more this week, meaning our dry ice price must remain at £5.00/kg for now.
As the Ammonia Surcharge is a measure put in place to ensure sufficient LCO2 supplies are available in September, and is only intended to be used until established CO2 sources come back on-line again, we are waiting for news for next month when we hope the Surcharge will go back to a monthly setting and a lower figure.
Update:Monday Sept 12th.
The Ammonia Surcharge was reset last night for this week and results in the same dry ice price of £5.00/kg that we set for last week. We should have charged more from Sept 5th, but we managed to keep the price down by using up our LCO2 stock. Now that stock has gone, we will continue to charge at £5.00/kg which is the rate equivalent to the LCO2 we have ordered today.
The Ammonia Surcharge is a measure put in place to ensure sufficient LCO2 supplies are available in September, but it is only intended to be used until established CO2 sources come back on-line again. As soon as news on this or any other changes come in, we will let you know.
Update: Tuesday Sept 6th.
The main factor that pushed the LCO2 price up in the first few days of September was the TTF gas price. This is the volume weighted average price of all trades executed in all the spot Natural Gas contracts delivered on a specific day. On Friday August 26th. it reached 337 Eur/MWh and, as Friday is the day used for fixing prices for the week ahead, it made the first fixing of the Ammonia Surcharge very high. As reported on Sunday Sept 4th. the fixing for this week was lower with the TTF price at 239.
The good news today is that the TTF is currently around 218, and if it stays that way until the end of the week we will be able to continue to supply at our current rate of £5.00 per kg. Of course, we hope it drops back further so we can reduce our price back to the pre Ammonia Surcharge level.
The Ammonia Surcharge is a measure put in place to ensure sufficient LCO2 supplies are available in September, but is only intended to be used until established CO2 sources come back on-line again. As soon as news on this or any other changes come in we will be in touch again
This is a difficult time for dry ice producers and we appreciate very much the understanding you have given to us.
Update: Sunday September 4th 2022
We are pleased to report that the Ammonia Surcharge for w/c Sept 5th. has dropped today making the current full price for dry ice £7.00 per kg for ice made from LCO2 received this coming week.
As we reported on Friday we set our price at £5.00 per kg for the coming week, and this news allows us to maintain that price until we need to purchase new stock. When we order our next refill we will adjust our price up or down to allow for the new purchase price and the value of existing stock.
To be honest, looking at the current political situation, both at home and abroad, makes it impossible to predict which way gas prices and ammonia production will go, and regretably all we can currently do is keep you regularly posted with the latest news.
Update :Friday September 2nd 2022
Knowing that our raw material (CO2) is a byproduct of Ammonia production that uses Natural Gas as its feedstock, it will not surprise you to hear that steep rises in gas costs are forcing producers to close their plants. This has been happening all over Europe and is now impacting our supplier who has to date managed to maintain our LCO2 deliveries without limitation by drawing CO2 from multiple sources and applying a monthly surcharge to cover additional costs.
Normally, I would be letting you know the September price at this time, but the surcharge has now been changed to an “Ammonia Surcharge” to support production from a plant that would otherwise close and halt CO2 availability all together. If we apply the Ammonia Surcharge already advised to us for LCO2 purchases today we estimate the per kg dry ice price would increase to approx £9.50. However, this surcharge will be revised for the w/c 5th September later today, and is predicted to be lower.
Fortunately, we have some stock purchased at at the old rate which we propose to use as follows:
• Orders for delivery Monday 5th September at the August rate of £2.00 per kg
• Orders for delivery during the remaining part of next week, including web orders, at £5.00 per kg
• Orders after our stock is depleted at the price calculated using the appropriate Ammonia Surcharge.
We ask you all to carefully consider your requirements and reduce the quantities ordered where possible. We also ask you to please respect the terms of payment we place on your invoices as we now have to settle our LCO2 purchases 7 days after delivery. Our 30 day terms will remain in place for w/c 5th September and be reviewed the following week.
We are working hard to limit the increases and inconvenience of this sudden change and will be putting out a new price structure over the coming weekend and talking to all regular customers on Monday Sept 5th.
We are advised that this is an extreme measure designed to allow continuing supply in September and will be revised as soon as other expected CO2 sources come on line, hence the planned weekly revision.
Also please do not hesitate to call us to discuss the impact this will have on your specific dry ice requirements.