Drought causes increase in prices of basic inputs in Amazonas

Manaus (AM) — Since June 2023, suffering from the consequences of the drought, Amazonas could reach a stage of environmental and economic devastation throughout the territory. In the interior of the state, for example, there is already a lack of basic inputs, such as food and water. Trade entities warn of rising values ​​and a lack of merchants.

The President of the Commerce Federation of the State of Amazonas (Fecomércio-AM), Aderson Frota, explained to the In time that low river levels make it difficult for ships to arrive and dock in the city of Manaus. Consequently, the only alternative, according to the president, is the river route coming from Belém, because the river route, coming from Porto Velho, does not have enough water to navigate the Madeira River.

“We have a series of factors that, naturally, come together today to make life difficult for the people of Manaus and, especially, for the people of the interior. The people in the interior are without drinking water, the rivers are completely polluted and, as a result, the fish are dying due to lack of oxygen and this is all getting in the way and making it difficult and increasing the cost and price, having a negative impact on life. of people”,

declared Frota.

“At the beginning of last year, we had some increase in freight, port operations, fuel and a series of factors and, this year, in a much more serious situation at this stage, we will have more difficulties, more complex operations coming from ports that will have to dock there in Pará to facilitate the ferry arrival to Manaus. We are experiencing an atypical situation, because we have never had the Rio Negro in the last 30 years with such a shallow draft. And look, in the calendar of rising and falling waters, we will still have a drought until the 15th of November and only from the 16th onwards will we really see the rising waters”,

completed the president of the Federation.

For months, the State has suffered from the temperature conditions of the tropical phenomenon El Niño, the band of warm waters in most of the Equatorial Pacific Ocean, which, near the coast of South America, are greater than 3 °C. Adding these states, the North Tropical Atlantic Ocean has warmer waters than normal, exceeding the historical average.

According to the National Amazon Research Institute (Inpa), the El Niñowhich proves this increase in temperature, in addition to the warming of the North Tropical Atlantic, above the Equator, does not allow the formation of clouds, interfering with the lack of rain in the Amazon.

“The drought is mainly impacting our rivers, which are our entrances, making the navigability of boats and ships difficult. As a result, a journey that lasted five days is taking seven or eight days, because the boat has to navigate more carefully, due to the draft, and this increases the logistical cost, if you were paying a five-day freight, you will pay one of eight, this will increase the cost, which will be added to the price of the products”,

explained economist Denise Kassama.

The shipping companies associated with the Brazilian Association of Cabotage Shipowners (ABAC – Mercosul), Aliança and LogIn, which have regular lines to serve the Amazon production zone and the community, had already begun to feel the impacts. These ships allow the flow of production and maintain the supply of this region with basic inputs for the entire population and local industry.

Due to the lack of rain in the North region and the worsening of the drought, the main navigation channels are blocked in the region. Companies that operate in the flow and receipt of products remember that, in addition to the Madeira River, the situation affects the Negro and Solimões rivers.

This situation affected the stallholder, Ademar Júnior, who works at the Manaus Moderna fair and affects his production in a different way. The producer explained that in a situation of regional products, especially some regions, like Manicoré, where the river dried up a lot, which made irrigation difficult, which became distant and more difficult, causing a drop in production, mainly due to the distance to collect water .

“Products that come from Porto Velho to Manaus take more days, the people who hire the boats and do the shipping, increase the price because it takes longer, the person only travels during the day, less time, so there is an increase of R$ 5 thousand, a cost surcharge, in the case of shipping, because my products are all from abroad, I don’t work with regional products”,

stated the entrepreneur.

“The product itself, in São Paulo, a producing region at this time, always had low prices, because they are irrigated, these products tend to increase as soon as the rain increases in these regions. So, in my case, it is the shipping that is costing the most. This transport used to be carried out in 12 days, but now takes 17 days, and there is no longer any sea transport, so it is now being transported by land. We have the option of Cuiabá-Santarém, Porto Velho-Manaus is more complicated. At this time, BR-319 even helps, but not everyone wants to do this stretch. So, that year the freight was 35, it went to 37, 42, and today it is 50 thousand from São Paulo here”,

added Ademar Júnior.

Companies point out that the drought could impact navigation by 50%, 50% of what should be transported. Due to security, in the worst case scenarios it will not be possible to travel via the Amazon River. In 2022, the reduction will average 40%. The products most affected during this drought are basic inputs, such as food (rice, frozen and chilled), cement, metals, ceramics, porcelain tiles and fertilizers.

“Initially, it is important to understand that here in the state of Amazonas, we depend a lot on products coming from other states, that is, Amazonas leaves something to be desired in the production of many products, especially food, even frozen chicken today goes to the interior and we depend of many products, such as oil, sugar, coffee, straw hats, nets, nylon thread, everything that rural citizens need”,

explained economist Jefferson Praia.

Jefferson comments that due to this problem there is a decrease in supply, and given this decrease the price ends up rising. He states that Amazonians are already consuming much more expensive products and that inflation in Amazonas is much higher than in other states.

“Before we reach the period of drought, floods, commerce must be prepared to meet that period that will be the dry period, that period that will be the flood period. What we have been seeing for more or less 20 years, so the reality we are living through is worrying. We are not acting as we should act as citizens and institutions must also be, at this moment, reflecting on how we will act from now on, assuming our responsibilities, so as not to be held accountable later by others who are not here in the Amazon taking care of of the Amazon”,

completed the specialist.

The annual drought that occurs in the state is a natural phenomenon, but problems such as illegal mining, dredging in the Madeira River and illegal fires that affected the State have made the situation unsustainable.

In the interior of Amazonas, the municipality of Rio Preto da Eva began its first water rationing program. The contingency measures came into force on the 10th and are scheduled to last for 60 days.

The municipality took two main actions in response to the situation. One of them involved the shutdown of all water pumps from 11pm to 5am, thus allowing well levels to recover, which were significantly below recommended levels. Furthermore, it was established that there will be fines and the immediate installation of water meters in the homes of users who are wasting water.

The Government of Amazonas, through the Intersectoral Committee for Coping with Environmental Emergency Situations, released a bulletin with updated information about the drought in the state. In its last update there were 50 municipalities in emergency, 10 cities on alert, none on alert and 2 in normality. Beruri and Manicoré declared an emergency.

According to the bulletin, Amazonas continues to have 392 thousand people affected so far, around 97 thousand families. The Committee also declared an emergency situation in 55 municipalities in Amazonas affected by the severe drought affecting the state.

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