Sugar, oils, stationery, among the 10 most difficult items to obtain

The pressure of the blue dollar and the uncertainty have a full impact on the gondolas. Supermarkets, self-service and kiosks indicate this the level of supply is complicated because suppliers they ration deliveries or because they have applied large increases. Sugar, oils, stationery, coffee, dairy, batteries, yerba mate, beverages, cookies and packaging are the 10 categories that lead the ranking of commercial complaints.

“There are problems with sugar, flour, oils and all that is stationery but it is not something generic. There is availability at the category level, but there are breakages, shortages or delays in the shipment of some products“, describes Javier González, of the Nielsen consulting firm. Although he makes it clear that it is not yet” something alarming “, he says that a certain shortage is beginning to be noticed.

The level of observations accelerated after the resignation of Martín Guzmán from the Ministry of Economy. Added to this is the tightening of stocks on imports, which hindered the entry of production factors and made local production more expensive. “In these two weeks, the cost of sugar jumped from 107 to 170 pesos and they set a limit of two packages per person“wrote Fernando Savore, head of the Buenos Aires Chamber of Grocers. Something similar happens with oil.

“In everything that is stationery (toilet paper, kitchen paper and napkins) it came with a 40% increase,” complain from the chains. In supermarkets it is said that in many cases (herbs, biscuits, preserves, flour and dry pasta, among others) suppliers deliver in installments, in addition to orders. And that for this reason there are gaps in the gondolas or a variety of brands and formats are missing. “This goes beyond the current situation and the crisis, as in the case of the dairy sector“stressed an industry source.

All this takes place in a context of preventive increases for hedges against a possible devaluation of the official dollar and inventory purchases (overheating of demand) made by people who spend pesos to compensate for the loss of purchasing power. The shock had a complete impact on the Care Prices program, which covers nearly 950 products with regulated increases. From the chains ensure that the level of compliance dropped below 50%, the worst level since it was rolled out in 2014.

Hypermarkets have more backs to negotiate with manufacturers. This is not the case with the rest of the commercial formats. A study by the consulting firm Scanntech, which measures the prices of mass products increased in the first fortnight of July by 5.5%: food (5%), drinks (5.1%), personal care (8.4%) and cleaning (4.9%). However, higher sales were recorded in candy, snacks, frozen foods, and energy drinks, among others.

Unlike hypermarkets, local businesses (warehouses, delis, self-service shops, independent chains and kiosks) are supplied by wholesalers, distributors and suppliers with varying degrees of complexity. Your costs vary according to the volume of purchase, your geographic location and the customers you serve. The channel concentrates over 65% of sales of basic articles, according to specialist consultants.

The volatility of the dollar affects prices, especially on directly imported products. Batteries (which are imported) increased 17% in kiosks earlier this month and increased another 17% last week. The same goes for razor blades and some condoms. Last Monday, cigarettes increased by 10%.

Víctor Palpacelli, president of Fasa (Argentina Federation of Supermarkets, the chamber that groups the chains of the interior) comments that prices have increased by an average of 10% in the last 15 days. And while he points out that “there are no shortages”, he acknowledges that “there are stock market breaks in some categories”.

Palpacelli agrees on the “deepening of the stationery problem” and on the fact that in some cases the delivery of orders has been cut or reduced “or the conditions of sale have been modified”.