High diesel prices rise 10% at Supply Centers

Last week’s diesel increase is already having an effect on food prices. According to the president of the Brazilian Association of Supply Centers (Abracen), Eder Eduardo Bublitz, the increase in freight led to a transfer of approximately 10% in the prices of fruits and vegetables sold at wholesale.

“For example, on the Curitiba (PR) to Juazeiro (CE) route, a truck goes up with empty boxes and comes down loaded, before the freight was around R$ 7,500. Today, this freight costs more than R$9,000, and it is difficult to find a truck. For drivers, it is a freight that ends up being expensive, you see a supply of R$ 5 thousand”, he added.

Bublitz points out that the sector is already facing other difficulties, such as crop failures due to climate issues and the rise in fertilizer prices, impacted by the war between Ukraine and Russia.

In addition, the rise in diesel also influences the beginning of the production chain, since it is the fuel that supplies tractors and agricultural machinery.

This Tuesday (17), a week after the diesel readjustment, the federal government published a provisional measure that could cause a new increase in freight. President Jair Bolsonaro signed the extraordinary review of the sector’s minimum floor table.

Before, the value was changed every 10% variation in fuel. Now the trigger has dropped to 5%. For now, the National Land Transport Agency (ANTT) announced that the price remains the same, as the current accumulated fluctuation in diesel is 3.26%.

Despite the effects that the MP can have on the price of transporting food, Bublitz believes it is necessary in the face of the rise of diesel and the reduced profit margins of truck drivers. However, he considers that the public power needs to think about actions to contain the readjustments in fruits and vegetables.

“The impact of diesel oil on the shelf is very high. It is necessary, it is prudent, it is urgent that the federal, state and municipal governments sit down to analyze measures, especially a tax exemption ”, he defended.

Prices in Ceasas

Published this Tuesday (17), the 5th Bulletin of the Brazilian Horticultural Market Modernization Program (Prohort), of the National Supply Company (Conab), shows a continuation of the rise in potato, onion and tomato prices, in April.

Already the carrot, one of the ‘villains’ of inflation, registered the beginning of a fall, due to the low demand, but still with a price higher than in other years. The price of a kilo suffered drops ranging from almost 5% to more than 35%, compared to March, reaching between R$ 4.08 (Goiânia) and R$ 7.50 (Fortaleza).

In the case of potatoes, in the supply centers of Rio de Janeiro, Belo Horizonte and Curitiba, there was an increase in the price of the kilo of more than 40% in April. “The lower supply caused this movement, with the summer harvest at its end and the winter harvest with insufficient shipments to markets to meet demand”, says the document. The kilo was found between R$ 2.51 (Rio de Janeiro) and R$ 6.24 (Rio Branco).

The tomato kilo has continued to rise since the second half of last year, but with less intensity, oscillating in April between R$ 4.07 (Recife) and R$ 8.09 (Rio Branco). According to Conab, the offer of the product fell again in April and reached one of the worst levels in the last two years.

In the case of onions, only Ceasa de Fortaleza observed a slight drop in price. In the other supply centers, the high of the kilo varied between 3.64% and 30.16% in comparison with March. The minimum price reached R$ 2.85 (Curitiba) and the maximum price reached R$ 5.36 Brasília).

The National Supply Company points out that the price of onions is pressured by the concentration of production in the south of the country, and offers from other regions and imports have not managed to reverse this situation.

Among the fruits, demand dropped last month, especially on account of the holidays. With that, the prices of papaya and watermelon had a reduction. The banana kilo, on the other hand, fluctuated between a fall of almost 5% and an increase of more than 13%. In the case of oranges, the value remained high, but also with variations – between a drop of almost 27% in Rio Branco (AC) and an increase of 4.97% in Recife (PE).

Conab’s research analyzes the vegetables and fruits with the greatest representation in Ceasas and with the greatest weight in inflation, measuring the values ​​of the centrals of São Paulo, Belo Horizonte, Rio de Janeiro, Vitória, Curitiba, Goiânia, Brasília, Recife, Fortaleza and Rio White.