19 September 2026, 08:15 UTC

Poland's heating coal prices jump about 300 zł a tonne in two weeks

Retail heating coal in Poland has risen by roughly 300 zł per tonne in two weeks, with depots quoting 1,600–2,000 zł, according to wnp.pl. Coarse grades are hardest to obtain, with delivery waits of about a month. A utility executive was dismissed after warning that a cold winter would leave the country short of coal.

Prices of heating coal at Polish retail depots have risen by roughly 300 zł per tonne within two weeks, with sellers now quoting between about 1,600 zł and more than 2,000 zł per tonne, the industry portal wnp.pl reported. The move ends a long stretch of stability on the domestic market and comes weeks before the start of the heating season.

Depot quotes climb toward 2,000 zł

The scale of the increase differs by region and by grade, but the direction is uniform across the country. Quotes gathered by wnp.pl and WP Finanse from depots in several parts of Poland show the following picture:

a depot in the Warmian-Masurian voivodeship selling at 1,950–2,000 zł per tonne, with buyers waiting about a month for delivery;
another depot quoting individual customers 1,600–2,000 zł per tonne after an increase of around 300 zł over the previous two weeks;
a depot in Bydgoszcz where imported coal cost 1,460 zł gross per tonne in the first half of August and 1,780 zł now — 320 zł, or roughly 22 percent, more.

The Bydgoszcz quote is the clearest marker of how fast the repricing has run, because it covers the same imported material at the same point of sale over a period of about six weeks. At the top of the range, a household buying five tonnes for the season now faces an outlay of around 10,000 zł.

Shortage concentrated in coarse grades

Availability, not only price, has become the constraint. A seller at a depot in the Warmian-Masurian voivodeship told WP Finanse that the problem concerns mainly coarse fuel — the nut (orzech) and cube (kostka) grades — which are the sizes burned in household boilers. Customers at that depot have been waiting about a month for deliveries, while a tonne is quoted at 1,950–2,000 zł.

Lead times of that length in mid-September point to buying brought forward rather than to consumption already taking place. Households are stocking up before the first frost, which pulls demand into the pre-season window and drains depot inventories at exactly the moment when restocking is slowest.

A calm market until around 20 August

The seller in Bydgoszcz told WP Finanse that through the whole of 2024 and 2025, and also in the first half of 2026, the coal market was quiet and prices were not subject to major swings. Clear changes only became visible around 20 August. In his assessment, domestic producers adjusted their price lists to the level of coal brought in from abroad.

That mechanism matters for anyone trading the fuel. If domestic list prices follow import parity rather than domestic cost, the retail market in Poland reprices with a lag on seaborne quotations, and the spread between imported and home-produced tonnes narrows instead of widening. It also means that the current increase is unlikely to be reversed by domestic supply decisions alone.

Utilities warn on winter supply

The retail squeeze coincides with a warning from the heating sector. Speaking at the 30th Polish Heating Suppliers Forum, the chief executive of Orlen Termika, Andrzej Gajewski, said: “If the winter is frosty, coal will run short. We will all be scraping the bottom. I believe that is the biggest risk facing us today.” He was dismissed from his position over those remarks, wnp.pl reported.

Gajewski linked the tension to two factors. The previous winter was very cold and Poland burned more coal than usual. Then came the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz in the Middle East, which raised gas prices; the power sector cut its use of gas and turned to cheaper coal instead. That switch puts utility demand and household demand in competition for the same tonnes, and it is the part of the picture that the pre-season retail market is now pricing in.

Expert commentary

“Polish heating coal went from a quiet market to a tight one in about four weeks. A tonne at the depot now costs 1,600–2,000 zł, and in Bydgoszcz the same imported coal moved from 1,460 zł in the first half of August to 1,780 zł — plus 320 zł, or roughly 22 percent. Before that, prices barely moved through 2024, 2025 and the first half of 2026. The turn came around 20 August, and it was not gradual.

The scarcity sits in the coarse grades — nut and cube — which is exactly what household boilers burn. A month's wait for delivery in mid-September means buyers are stocking ahead of a cold snap that has not arrived yet. Depots that sell out now will restock at import parity, so the next price list will be higher again unless seaborne quotations fall.

The driver is not domestic mining. A cold previous winter drew down coal, the Hormuz blockade lifted gas prices, and utilities switched from gas to cheaper coal — that demand competes with households for the same material. Domestic producers then aligned their lists with imported coal, which is what actually repriced the retail market. For traders the risk is holding inventory bought at the top if the winter turns mild; for households it is timing, because waiting until the frost means paying the seasonal peak. And when the head of Orlen Termika is removed for saying openly that a frosty winter would leave Poland short of coal, that tells you how tight the balance is judged to be.”

Daniel Brooks

Lead Energy Markets Analyst