Good news: Fuel prices in Hungary could slip below psychological threshold

The Hungarian fuel market seems to be recovering recently. We are getting closer and closer to the average price of petrol and diesel reaching below HUF 600 (EUR 1.56). Among other things, the secretary general of the Hungarian Petroleum Association talked about this to the Hungarian news portal Index.

The fuel market is experiencing a turnaround

Ottó Grád, secretary general of the Hungarian Petroleum Association, told Index that the Hungarian fuel market is undergoing a turnaround at the moment. Mr Grád said that based on recently published data, fuel consumption in Hungary has decreased by 10 percent. According to him, this is a significant decrease overall; however, it is important to look at the context of this data.

This figure compares the change with the previous year. So, in addition to the decline in sales, it is worth pointing out that the baseline was also extremely high, with retail sales in January 2022 and the first half of the year as a whole being exceptionally high.

The secretary general currently sees that after the abolition of the official price, imports have started to revert to the previous period. He believes that in the near future, prices will be increasingly determined by normal market developments. These developments include the changes in the oil and forint exchange rates, and the European product subscription may also have some impact on the Hungarian market.

Read also: Hungary started to replace Russian gas and could go even further

Prices are falling

Mr Grád pointed out that prices are currently falling. He said that Hungarian fuel prices seem to be “eroding” in comparison with neighbouring countries. Looking at the prices of products, the secretary general believes that a more moderate but further decrease in prices will be seen.

“In terms of basic price parameters, I see that average prices for both diesel and petrol could slowly slip below HUF 600,”

Ottó Grád told Index.

Eszter Bujdos, CEO of Holtankoljak.hu, summarised the Hungarian traffic data by saying that the start of sales at petrol stations is currently very slow. This is true for both small and large service stations, but there may be differences between regions.

“Last year at this time, the price of fuel was HUF 480 (EUR 1.25). Now, the average price is still above HUF 600. Furthermore, we should also see that the agricultural sector is slow to get going, as it has refuelled quite well before. This could also be a reason for a drop in traffic,”

she said.