A COAL merchant has warned Islanders already struggling with living expenses to expect further price hikes, after being hit by an unprecedented rise in the cost of raw materials.
Trevor Bechelet, of Patch Coal, said that a combination of factors – including the war in Ukraine, an impending ban on sales of traditional house coal in England and an increase in logistical costs – had accelerated a rise in raw material and freight prices that he has been forced to pass on to customers.
He has already put his prices up three times over the winter, with trebles – larger pieces of house coal – rising from £12.50 to £15 per 20kg, and Newflame Plus and Homeflame smokeless fuels going up from £16 to £18, and £17 to £19 per 20kg respectively.
‘In my 40 years of trading it is unheard of to have so many price rises,’ he said, adding that his remaining supplies would likely go ‘within weeks’.
‘When I sell what’s left, it’s gone – prices are changing daily and I will not bring anything in again before October, as I don’t know what the cost will be then.’
Mr Bechelet recently placed an advert in the JEP urging Islanders to stock up if they have spare cash and storage space ‘no matter how small’.
‘People are taking notice and what we have been seeing is loads of orders [since the advert]. I’ve had three customers place orders who want to stock up but don’t have anywhere to store it, so they have been having it sent to grandparents and other relatives to put in their garages.’
He estimated that the situation was going to have a ‘hell of an impact’ in Jersey and was unlikely to improve any time soon.
‘When we have a cold winter, I can’t believe how many customers come out of the woodwork,’ he said, adding that he ‘felt bad’ for those living hand to mouth who could not afford to buy in advance.
The cost of living has grown significantly over the last year as fuel, food and electricity have all risen in price.
Jersey Electricity has confirmed that its costs will climb by 5% in July and again by the same amount next January – with each rise adding about £1 a week to the average domestic bill. Meanwhile, a petition by ATF Fuels director Jonathan Best – calling for an ‘immediate’ fuel duty cut of 2.5 pence per litre – was recently rejected by ministers after receiving more than 2,000 signatures.
