The shortage of diesel is worsening: the situation is critical in eight provinces and complicated in another ten

Complaints about the lack of diesel have intensified in recent days in various provinces of the country. The fulcrum of the shortage is in the North but extends to other provinces with varying intensity. This situation occurs in the context of full harvesting for the countryside and the increased use of fuels in regional economies. The drawbacks of obtaining fuel for production coincide with the celebrations for the 100 years of YPFthe oil company controlled by the Argentine state.

An investigation by the Argentine Federation of Commercial Freight Entities (FADEEAC), through the so-called “Map of diesel supply”determined that they are eight provinces in red which have very little or no supply at gas stations. They are: Jujuy, Salta, Formosa, Tucumán, Misiones, Corrientes, Santa Fe and Entre Ríos.

Furthermore, according to the institution, seven other provinces also have problems, even if not critical, because the average supply is only 20 liters per unit: these are San Juan, Mendoza, Chaco, Santiago del Estero, Córdoba and Buenos Aires and CABA.

A third group, consisting of Catamarca, La Rioja and San Luis, appears with more minor problems

This was stated by Roberto Guarnieri, president of Fadeeac the missing one takes more than two months and “it is clear that this is a problem caused by the lack of foreign currency and the difficulty of making rapid progress on the necessary policies”.

Guarnieri complained about it in Argentina “The trucks are stuck on the side of the road due to a lack of diesel“If an urgent solution is not found, we will begin to see shortages. We cannot take the harvest in a timely manner, nor the livestock or the food. The industry in general will begin to suffer,” said the head of the entrepreneurial federation.

From the Northeast Chamber of Service Stations and Related, they pointed out that the shortage exists in all service stations, which instead ship with quotas which depend on the stock of each season.

In the case of trucks, between 50 and 100 liters can be sold. To the trucks, 50 liters of fuel. But this is the maximum and in trucks the cap is 150 liters. According to the institution, the situation is “dramatic”, particularly aggravated by the large amount of international transport entering through the Iguazú area and Bernardo de Irigoyen, in Misiones, who come to refuel at local pumps.

Although the station quota is renewed at the beginning of each month, when a stop asks for more fuel because it sells more, the response from the oil companies is straightforward: “Be satisfied with this”, they respond.

“The first two weeks of the month we pilot it and in the third it becomes already dramatic”, said a stationary associated with the entity: “moreover, in the last days of the month, you have to travel about seven stations to load a few liters“, she complained.

The chamber had warned in October of last year before the opening of the growth boundary of the “extra” demand due to the arrival of Paraguayans and Brazilians to fill their tanks ..

The situation has reached such a point that YPF, in the city of Posadas, has set a differential price for foreigners. They charge $ 300 pesos per liter for gasoline and $ 175 for Infinia diesel, while Paraguayan buyers sell it for $ 240.

“In any case, Paraguayans park two blocks from the stations and rent or steal Argentine license plates,” they pointed out in the stationer’s room.

Another asset that has been implemented due to the diesel shortage is that a “milk truck” usually comes and goes at four or five stations and distributes among all 36,000 liters allotted.

This week the government came out on the issue of fuel shortages with the argument that the problem responds to the increase in demand. On Wednesday, it announced it will import more diesel “to secure supply in the face of growing demands from freight chambers securing serious fuel supply problems in eight provinces of the country.”

Cabinet chief Juan Manzur told reporters that everything to do with energy is a priority for the government, which “will bring all the necessary diesel”, for which, he said, “There are dollars.”

The official stressed that he had held talks with the Minister of Economy, Martín Guzmán, and the authorities of the state Yacimientos Petrolíferos Fiscales (YPF) to resolve this lack of energy. which would resolve in a couple of days.

For economists, the explanation goes in another way: they point out that one of the reasons for the shortage is precisely that it is not profitable for YPF and private oil companies to import diesel because they cannot sell it at the price they buy it as the government prevents all its value from being transferred to the market in the current inflationary context.