The increase was driven by Shell and has been in force since this Sunday. It was agreed with the Ministry of Economy. Other oil companies are expected to follow suit.
The oil companies started a new round of increases in fuel prices. The gasoline became more expensive 4% at Shell service stations since Sunday. Axion will fold on Monday. Although YPF has not yet defined the date, it also will go that way.
In this way, the path of increases in the amounts of gasoline defined between the Ministry of Energy and the companies is fulfilled. At Shell stations, super gasoline was dispatched on Sunday at $163, diesel at $183, “premium” gasoline at $200, and the highest quality diesel at $283.
Increasing It was scheduled for the beginning of the month. But Economy Minister Sergio Massa asked the companies to delay. In this way, the transfer was postponed for a fortnight. The official did not like it when he read on the cover of Clarion that an increase was coming at the beginning of the year. He asked for a delay, which the companies complied with.
Hay more increases on the way: another 4% in February and 3.8% in March. Then, the Government and the companies will sit down again to outline the rest of the year.
Although the other oil companies have not announced it yet, once one company increases, the others tend to fold. In this case, it was started by Raizen, which is the one that operates the stations that carry the Shell brand. Although there may be a difference of hours or days, it was always followed by its competitors, such as YPF and Axion. The latter will be added on Monday. The majority state oil company -which has the largest market share- will follow this path, but has not yet defined the date.
The fuels have a weight ofl 4.2% in the Consumer Price Index (CPI). However, its increase also drags to higher logistics costs for companies, since they have to pay more for the transport of their merchandise. In this sense, the indirect impact is greater.
The price of super gasoline was $150 at YPF stations in the city of Buenos Aires. While the premium shipped at $185. With the corrections, it is estimated that all suppliers they will be left with “premium” gasoline close to $200. In this way, almost the value of an official dollar is reached, a kind of industry rule.
In any case, Argentine prices are -in dollars- cheaper than those of its neighboring countries (Bolivia, Uruguay, Chile, Paraguay), so it is likely that motorists from those territories come to fill up the tank. In relation to Brazil, the amounts are similar.
The price of fuel fell in the United States, the largest gasoline demander in the world. There, the gallon (which contains almost 4 liters) was again between US$3 and US$4.
A delayed rise
The oil companies were prepared to apply a 4% increase for about two weeks. However, Massa modified the deadlines and the increases went to the second half of January.
Massa, who is well received by the oil companies, notified the companies that there would only “be” a rise in prices after the second half of January. The companies complied.
The companies (YPF, Axion, Raizen -which operates the Shell brand-) were already studying when to apply the rebranding, until Massa’s decisions reached them.
The first increase, in December, was applied as soon as the calendar changed, and stationers believed that this would also happen the following month. But the barrage of increases (public services, prepaid, cell phones) led the Government to diagram that little pause.
The oil companies applied seven increments during 2022. In gasoline they were below the annual CPI, while in diesel they were above that indicator.
The increase will hit the January consumer price index. In December, this indicator was 5.1%, accumulating an annual variation of 94.8%, the highest since 1991.