Diesel price rises again at gas stations and reaches close to R$ 7

The price of diesel at Brazilian gas stations rose again this week, renewing the record set last week. According to the ANP (National Agency for Petroleum, Gas and Biofuels), the product was sold, on average, at R$ 6.943 per liter.

The value is 1.4% higher than the record recorded last week, of R$ 6.847 per liter. The escalation is the result of the transfer of the adjustment promoted by Petrobras on the 9th, which ended up leading to the change in command of the government’s energy area.

According to the ANP, the average price of diesel already exceeds R$ 7 per liter in 13 states. In three, the maximum price is over R$ 8. As in the previous week, the highest value detected by the agency’s survey was R$ 8,300 per liter, in Cruzeiro do Sul (AC).

In the two weeks after the adjustment, the average price of fuel accumulates a high of 4.7% at pumps, according to ANP data. The rise puts pressure on inflation, as diesel is the main fuel used to transport cargo in the country.

In addition to the resignation of former Minister of Mines and Energy Bento Albuquerque, who was replaced by Adolfo Sachsida, the readjustment intensified the arm wrestling between the Jair Bolsonaro government and the states over the collection of ICMS on fuel.

Four days after the readjustment in the refineries, the AGU (Advocacia Geral da União) obtained an injunction in the STF (Supreme Federal Court) against maneuvers by the states to circumvent the law that implemented the single ICMS in the country.

The injunction, however, ended up generating a risk of rising prices, by maintaining the single rate of R$ 1.006 per liter, eliminating only the possibility of granting discounts by the states, so that everyone could maintain the current rates.

This Thursday (19), the Ministry of Economy met with Confaz (National Council for Finance Policy) to try to force the adoption of the transition model provided for in the law, which provides for a rate equivalent to the average of the last 60 months, but not there was agreement.

According to the ANP, the average price of gasoline dropped 0.3% to R$7.275 per liter, following the reduction in the price of anhydrous ethanol. With the beginning of the harvest, the biofuel that is mixed with gasoline plummeted 9% in the plants of São Paulo in three weeks.

The average price of hydrous ethanol dropped 1.8% at gas stations, to R$5,224 per liter, accumulating a 5.7% decline at pumps in one month. At the mills, however, the price of the product rose again last week, after two weeks of sharp decline.

According to the ANP, the price of cooking gas recorded a slight drop this week, to R$ 112.89 per 13-kilogram cylinder. Despite the 5.6% cut in refineries in April, the transfer is still timid. In the last month, the product accumulates a drop of only 0.5% in resales.

The price of CNG (vehicle natural gas) stopped rising after weeks of strong rise. This week, the product was sold, on average, at R$ 5.258 per cubic meter, practically stable in relation to the R$ 5.265 verified by the ANP in the previous week.

Widely used by taxi drivers and app drivers in states that have a piped gas network, the fuel had been pressured by an average adjustment of 19% in the price of natural gas sold by Petrobras to distributors from the beginning of May.