Bottles sold at a price differential through the Home programto supply liquefied gas to the neediest homes, may not be available during the upcoming winter seasonwarned entrepreneurs in the sector.
As denounced by the Chamber of Argentine Liquefied Gas Companies (CEGLA), the State has suspended payments to companies that bottle the gas, in some cases since April last year, and accumulates a debt of 3,500 million pesos. The Chamber filed an administrative appeal before the Ministry of the Economy, prior to judicial complaint.
Through a press release, the entrepreneurs denounced “an imminent supply interruption” of the carafes and requested both the payment of the requested amount and a readjustment of the prices of the carafes “to avoid the collapse of the sector and distribution is compromised.
In order for the most needy families who do not have natural gas service, the Government has launched the so-called Home Programme, which subsidize the price of the carafe to consumers. In the case of fractionators and the rest of the industrial chain, they are compensated with a Temporary economic assistance (AET), established with resolution no. 809.
As denounced by the CEGLA, the latter AET has not been fulfilled since then six months ago on average, with some companies not getting paid since April. The chamber brings together 17 distribution companies, which in turn claim to represent 70% of the market, with 9,000 employees who divide and distribute butane gas to 18 million consumers.
In January, CEGLA extended the presentation, before denouncing non-compliance by judicial way.
“If the application for the payment of the Transitional Economic Assistance and the law establishing it are not complied with, we will stand before the court“, he has declared Pietro Cascalipresident of CEGLA.
According to entrepreneurs, the companies that make up the sector they are producing at a lossdue to the pricing policy established by the National Energy Secretariat.
“The reference prices, defined by the National Energy Secretariat, are only sufficient to cover approximately between 55% and 70% of operating costs average activity, according to marketing areas within the country,” said Cascales. “Price fixing, which prevents fractionators from covering their costs and earning a reasonable return, constitutes unreasonable regulation that disregards constitutional rights to work and operate a lawful industry,” he added.
“There are companies that have not received these funds since April 2022”
Part of the letter presented to the Ministry of the Economy, which Clarín had access to, asked the Economy “to take the necessary measures to reverse the situation created by the insufficiency of the PMR and the temporary allocations in force due to the result of said values insufficient to cover the costs of the splitting activity performed by CEGLA members”.
Furthermore, they asked for new prices for the Home Program, “to cover the costs of the division activity carried out by CEGLA members” and for a change in the mechanisms for adjusting these prices.
The entrepreneurs have also asked that the “transitional” nature of the intervention be changed and that the granting of the Home program “incremental subsidies in terms of financial assistance to companies in the sector”, so that they have “reasonable profitability in a sustainable manner over time”.
How is the price of the liquefied gas cylinder made up?
The value of the jug is composed of: The value of the liquefied gas, taxes, labor costs, maintenance, rehabilitation of containers, exchanges and primary transport. This chain of costs, added together, yields an approximate value per carafe of $883.6, they say from the House. Meanwhile, the price set by the Department of Energy is $606 to the consumer, more $121.2 Transitional Economic Assistance (AET).
This last point, according to the entrepreneurs, is the one that the Government has not respected for months. According to their calculations, for each carafe sold they accumulate a debt of 121.20 pesos, to which must be added another 157.40 dollars for operating losses.
From CEGLA, they announced an imminent disruption of the production and supply chain, which could affect around 18 million consumers. The southern areas of the country would be most affected if the fractionation companies do not receive payment from the government of the debt, which “amounts to about 3,500 million pesos,” said Pedro Cascales.
Fernando J. Genazzini
Source: Clarin
