Petrobras: Fuels fall little after cut – 05/19/2023 – Market

The weekly survey of fuel prices by the ANP (National Agency of Petroleum, Gas and Biofuels) captured few transfers of price cuts implemented by Petrobras on Wednesday (16), when the company abandoned the import parity in its price policy .

The average price of gasoline dropped just 0.5%, or R$0.03 per liter. Diesel was 1.9%, or R$ 0.11 per liter cheaper. And the gas cylinder ended the week practically stable compared to the previous one.

The agency’s research usually takes time to capture readjustments made in the middle of the week, since the collection takes place in the first days, but service stations have complained that fuel distributors have not yet passed on the entire cut of the refineries, claiming that they still have old stocks.

The government has promised to inspect the sector next week, in an attempt to force it down, repeating what former president Jair Bolsonaro (PL) did during his term.

When announcing its new pricing policy, Petrobras cut the price of gasoline by R$ 0.40 per liter. Diesel fell by R$0.44 per liter and cooking gas, by R$8.97 per 13-kilogram cylinder. The state-owned company said it expected gasoline to cost R$5.20 and diesel to cost R$5.18 per liter at the pumps. The canister could drop to R$99.85.

According to the ANP, the average price of gasoline in the country ended the week at R$5.46 per liter this week. The cheapest gasoline was found in Diadema (SP), at R$ 4.39. The most expensive, in Tefé (AM), at R$7.30.

The product will suffer upward pressure in early June, with the beginning of the validity of the new ICMS model. In July, the federal government should resume old PIS/Cofins rates, putting even more pressure on the product.

The average price of S-10 diesel also closed the week at R$5.46 per liter this week, the lowest since October 2021, also in inflation-adjusted values. It is the 15th consecutive week of drop in fuel prices, which represents an important cost for cargo transportation in the country.

This week, the ANP found the cheapest S-10 diesel in the country in Feira de Santana (BA), at R$ 4.59 per liter. The most expensive was found in São Paulo, at R$8.49.

According to the ANP, the 13-kilogram gas cylinder was sold, on average, at R$ 108.73 this week, against R$ 108.84 the previous week.

The average price of hydrous ethanol dropped 2.4%, or R$0.10 per liter, to R$3.99. The product has registered little competitiveness in relation to petroleum derivatives and has been losing share in the matrix of fuels for light vehicles in Brazil.

In Diadema, a liter of hydrated ethanol was sold for R$ 3.09. In Bagé (RS), the product had the highest price this week: R$ 6.29.

The Minister of Finance, Fernando Haddad, went so far as to say that Petrobras had insured part of the cut in gasoline to compensate for the high federal taxes, but he backtracked after the company’s own refusal.

After the cuts, the prices practiced by the state-owned company are well below the concept of import parity, abandoned in the company’s new commercial policy but used as a reference by the sector.

According to Abicom (Brazilian Association of Fuel Importers), gasoline sold by the state-owned company was R$ 0.13 per liter below the international parity at the opening of the market this Friday (19). The lag for diesel was R$ 0.23 per liter.