Gasoline price rises 3% at stations after readjustment – 02/03/2023 – Market

The average price of gasoline at Brazilian service stations rose 3% this week and reached R$ 5.12 per liter, according to a survey by the ANP (National Agency for Petroleum, Gas and Biofuels).

With the high, the product is again above R$ 5 after two weeks. The increase reflects transfers of the 7.4% readjustment announced by Petrobras in its refineries on January 24th.

Last week, the ANP survey was unable to capture the transfers, as data collection is done on the first days of the week — the readjustment came into effect on Wednesday, the 25th.

The ANP detected the most expensive gasoline in the country in Itatiba (SP), at R$ 8.19 per liter. The cheapest was found in Lorena (SP), at R$ 4.12 per liter.

The increase creates a difficulty for the government, which still needs to decide in February whether to resume collecting federal taxes on the product.

The tax exemption authorized by the Jair Bolsonaro government on the eve of the election campaign was extended by Lula for a period of 60 days.

On the other hand, the internal price of the product has been two days higher than the so-called import parity, a concept that simulates how much it would cost to import the fuel, reversing a period of lag.

According to Abicom (Brazilian Association of Fuel Importers), the average price of gasoline in Brazilian refineries is 6%, or R$ 0.18 per liter, above the import parity.

In the case of diesel, the difference is even greater: 14%, or R$ 0.56 per liter. The maintenance of this scenario can help Petrobras’ new management to promote cuts in its refineries.

According to the ANP, the price of diesel S-10 was practically stable in the week, at R$ 6.39 per liter, R$ 0.01 above the price practiced in the previous week. Fuel had been falling for three weeks.

The price of cooking gas was also stable, at R$ 108.20 per 13-kilogram cylinder. In Amazonas, where the price soared after the privatization of the local refinery, the value rose 0.4%, to R$ 123.63 per cylinder.

Already the price of ethanol rose 1%, to R$ 3.82 per liter.