THE price of coal will soon be going up. Guernsey Coal managing director David Meeks was unavailable for comment on how much the increase would be, but subsidiary Jersey Coal has confirmed that the increase would take effect in both islands on 1 October.

General manager Sean Blake said: ‘Guernsey is much cheaper at the moment [about £7-£7.50 per 25kg bag, whereas the cost in Jersey is £10.19], but we have had extra stocks for the past couple of years. Now that those have been exhausted, Guernsey will increase much more substantially to bring the islands more in line.’

In the British market, UK Coal recently announced that there had been a 45% rise in the market price since the beginning of the year. The price varies according to transport costs but one company in Kent sells a 25kg bag of house coal for £6.70.

If the 45% rise were to be reflected in Guernsey, the price would increase to just under £11.  The rising cost is a worldwide problem due to higher demand and lower supply. In addition, many of the world’s biggest mines were affected by extreme weather earlier in the year.