Since mid-December, natural gas prices have increased by 28% on the Dutch TTF contract, one of the benchmarks for prices in Europe. And if we take a step back, prices have risen 120% since the February 2024 low.
Prices are currently moving at 50 euros per megawatt hour (MWh) compared to 22 euros in February 2024.
Vigilance over price developments is therefore necessary, particularly in relation to part of the European and especially German industrial sector. Manufacturing activity in Germany has been experiencing a long phase of contraction since the summer of 2022, with the PMI index moving below 50.0 (zone separating expansion of activity from contraction) since August 2022…
Since January 1, kyiv has definitively stopped deliveries of Russian gas to Europe via its territory, with the support of the European Commission.
-If we look back a few years, before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and before the pandemic, Dutch TTF natural gas prices were hovering around 20 euros per megawatt hour (MWh) on average. They soared to more than 340 euros per megawatt hour in the summer of 2022 before falling to 23 euros in the spring of 2023.
We are therefore not in a zone of panic on prices but in a phase of tension which must be monitored.
Belgium
