The Argentine oil company YPF decided this Wednesday to charge a higher price to load fuel in vehicles with foreign license plates, at a time when the lack of this product is becoming more acute in the South American country.
Source: EFE
Company sources confirmed to Efe that light cars and heavy transport vehicles with a foreign patent (plate) will only be able to load Infinia Diesel – YPF’s highest quality diesel – at a price per liter of 240 pesos (1.89 dollars). , at the official exchange rate).
The measure has already begun to be applied in the province of Mendoza (west, bordering Chile) and in those of the Litoral region (northeast, bordering Uruguay, Brazil and Paraguay).
“This measure seeks to limit the unusually high demand associated with border and logistics consumption, where growth exceeds 30% in some parts of the country,” said the sources consulted.
A month ago, the official value of Infinia Diesel had risen to 145.90 pesos ($1.15) per liter throughout the country.
With everything, since the worsening of the shortage of diesel -as diesel is called in Argentina-, in recent weeks higher and very different prices have been verified for this fuel in various parts of the country.
According to data from the Argentine Federation of Cargo Transport Business Entities, 19 of the 24 districts into which the country is divided suffer from diesel supply problems, a fuel widely used for agricultural machinery, trucks and passenger buses. among others.
The “supply map” created by the business entity shows that, except for the hydrocarbon-producing provinces in the south of the country, the rest of the districts have difficulties in accessing fuel.
The lack of diesel has been recorded for two months, when rural producers reported that they did not have enough fuel to harvest their crops and then transport them to storage sites and export ports.
But the shortage has worsened and spread throughout the central and northern regions of the country, generating severe problems in freight and passenger transport.
The months of grain harvest and shipment to the port are traditionally when demand for diesel rises in Argentina, which should normally increase imports of this fuel in this period.
But this time, the country faces a scenario of lack of foreign exchange and exceptionally high international energy prices.
In addition, the demand for diesel has grown in border areas by foreigners who, at the exchange rate, find fuel cheaper in Argentina than in neighboring countries.
In the midst of growing demands from farmers, industrialists and carriers, the government promised last week to increase diesel imports to normalize supply.
