CNT says freight will increase if government changes biodiesel – 02/26/2023 – Panel SA

While the Lula government tries to balance PT’s political pressure against the end of the federal tax relief on gasoline and alcohol, the transport sector raises threats of increased freight because of diesel.

Although the exemption on diesel, biodiesel and cooking gas has been extended until December, the CNT (Confederação Nacional do Transporte) says that there will be an increase in the cost of transport if the government decides to raise the percentage of biodiesel in the mandatory mixture with diesel .

On Friday (24), the Ministry of Mines and Energy told Reuters that the content of the mixture will be reviewed by the National Council for Energy Policy next month. The idea is that fuel pumps have a new percentage as early as April.

The CNT reacted by saying that the increase in biodiesel will increase freight prices.

“The eventual increase in the biodiesel content will generate additional costs to the freight value, which will be transferred to the entire population, translating into inflationary increases and making transport even more expensive and, consequently, the products consumed and exported”, says the CNT in note.

Throughout the Bolsonaro administration, the government made cuts in the percentage of the mixture as a way to lower the price of diesel at service stations and calm the conflicting relationship with truck drivers. Until 2021, the mixture was 14%. Today it is at 10%.

The CNT argues that biodiesel reduces the energy efficiency of engines, increasing vehicle consumption.

“The experience of using 13% biodiesel in the past has already proven this. There are several reports of sudden breakdowns in buses and trucks, which turned off by themselves while operating on highways. This can cause accidents with fatal victims, which worries the entire transport sector in Brazil,” he said.

Joana Cunha with Paulo Ricardo Martins It is Diego Felix

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