Reduced incomes, higher taxes and rising international oil prices have caused a steady decline in the fuel market since 2007.
According to data released by Infobank Hellastat SA, a study shows that the decline in fuel consumption continued through 2012.
In 2012 a total of 7.57 million tonnes of fuel was consumed domestically. This is 17% less than the previous year, while the cumulative decline, compared to 2008, amounts to 33.5%. The largest decline in 2012 was detected in heating oil, where consumption fell by 33% to 1.93 million tonnes. There was also a large decline in gasoline consumption (-13.4% to 2.88 million tonnes).
According to Infobank Hellastat, the downturn intensified during the last quarter of the year, when in October the Special Consumption Tax (SCT) for heating oil rose to the same level as excise duty on diesel, which caused a sharp rise in the retail price. After this change, the decline for the six month period from October 2012 to April 2013 stood at 70%.
The findings of the study show that companies in the industry face stricter credit policies applied by most refining groups, and the high risk in supplying petrol stations, due to the difficult financial position of the latter. Since the beginning of the crisis in Greece some 1,500 stations have ceased operating.
The study analyzed the financial statements of 14 companies and came to the conclusion that the total turnover of the sample in 2012 fell by 8.6% to 11.18 billion and the average decline per company stood at -6.5%.
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