The average price of regular gasoline at pumps rose for the second week in a row, after three and a half months of declines. This time, the rise to the consumer was 0.83%, from R$ 4.84 to R$ 4.88 between October 16 and 22, informed a little while ago the National Agency of Petroleum, Biofuels and Natural Gas (ANP). In two weeks, the input accumulates high of 1.8%.
The new price increase confirms the exhaustion of the government’s efforts to lower the price of the input to the consumer through tax cuts in June and reductions in prices charged by Petrobras between July and September at its refineries.
Since the historic peak of R$ 7.39, recorded in the penultimate week of June, gasoline has fallen by 35% until the week ended on October 8. But, with no further discounts on Petrobras prices in recent weeks, the price of the input has risen again at Brazilian gas stations.
Behind the rise, says the economist and professor at PUC-RJ, Edmar Almeida, are the increases promoted by the Mataripe Refinery (BA), controlled by Acelen, and importers. Alone, Acelen currently accounts for something between 12% and 15% of the national refining capacity.
The rise in prices of anhydrous ethanol, which makes up 27% of the blend of regular gasoline, also weighs. Anhydrous ethanol saw its price rise in the five weeks up to October 14, an accumulated increase of 8.2%, according to information from USP’s Center for Advanced Studies in Applied Economics (Cepea). This increase in input is passed on to the final price to consumers.
With the international market under pressure and Petrobras’ prices below import parity, there is no technical space for further reductions in refineries, say experts. With private agents gradually raising their prices, the tendency is for gasoline to continue rising, albeit at a slow pace, in the coming weeks.
According to Pedro Rodrigues, director of the Brazilian Infrastructure Center, in addition to the “factors” Acelen and anhydrous ethanol, there is an accommodation of lower prices that stimulated greater consumption of gasoline in the country and allowed resellers to increase their margins at gas stations, where pricing it’s free.
Source: CNN Brasil
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