Panel SA: Alert of lack of asphalt for works must be solved with imports, but demand is yet to be foreseen, says sector

After the alert raised by the Ministry of Transport that there may be a lack of asphalt to meet the expansion of investments planned in road works until April, companies in the sector claim that they will prepare to supply the supply with imports, but they point out that it is necessary to have a more detail of the required volume.

According to Abimpa (association of importers of the input), the War in Ukraine made freight more expensive, making imports from Russia unfeasible, but there are efforts to open other channels.

“We are looking outside and, probably, by the end of this month we will already have some solution for the issue of supply in case there is a shortage”, says Bibiano Ferraz, president of Abimpa.

The Ministry of Transport claims that it is also working with Itamaraty to try to reactivate partnerships with suppliers, such as Venezuela and other oil-producing countries, to expand supply in the domestic market.

Carlos Prado, technical manager of Sinicesp (Heavy Construction Industry Union of the State of São Paulo), says, however, that the calculations can only be made accurately when the works are launched.

“To carry out an import, we need more data. No one will dare to import without having the minimum information on the volume that will be necessary”, he says.

The alert about the raw material distribution market was taken to the Minister of Transport, Renan Filho, in a meeting this week to talk about investments in the maintenance of the main corridors for the flow of the crop. The forecast is for an investment of R$ 1.7 billion for road works in the plan for the first hundred days of the Lula administration.

The head of the folder should meet, in the next few days, with the president of Petrobras, Jean Paul Prates, to talk about the possible impacts of an increase in demand.

Joana Cunha with Paulo Ricardo Martins It is Diego Felix