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Truckers in Colombia Warned of A Potential Strike If Fuel Prices Rise

By: Diana Delgado, Contractor

Truckers in Colombia Warned of A Potential Strike If Fuel Prices Rise

 
Diana Delgado
 Latin American correspondent
diana.delgado@stonex.com

Truckers in Colombia Warned of A Potential Strike If Fuel Prices Rise

Coffee Network (Bogota)- Truck drivers in Colombia are warning that they will strike if the Gustavo Petro administration increases fuel prices, threatening exports of coffee, cocoa, and all agricultural products.

Colombian president Petro said his administration will have to gradually increase fuel prices as the oil stabilization fund, which is used to cushion domestic oil prices from unexpected rises on the international markets, has a deficit of COP15tn ($3.48bn), and it will widen if gasoline prices do not increase. The price of a gallon of gasoline in Colombia is around US$2.25, half the price in international markets like in the US where it costs around US$4.5 per gallon. 

“The fuel price stabilization deficit due to non-payment by the previous government is COP10 trillion per quarter. That is almost 40 trillion annually. Almost half of the national budget deficit,” Petro said on his twitter account.

Petro hinted that diesel prices will not increase, and it will be subsidized by the government.

Colombian coffee exports, which already have been hit by a major shortfall in production, would likely suffer from a truckers strike as the large majority of beans are transported along trucks.

The incumbent government says it is unsustainable to keep gas prices unchanged as the former administration of President Ivan Duque only increased fuel prices a few times. That explains why in Colombia a gallon of regular gasoline costs half of what it costs in the US.

Freight Carriers Association (ATC), which met in an extraordinary meeting yesterday, said why Colombia—a country that produces fuel and refines oil products at a cost of US$30 dollars-- will have to adjust prices at around $80, US$90, said Ánderson Quiceno, CEO of the ATC.

Andrés Velasco, director of the Autonomous Committee of the Fiscal Rule (Carf), explained that diesel generates about half of the deficit. An adjustment only in gasoline would imply a partial correction.

According to data from the Ministry of Mines and Energy, in the last week of August, the price differential for gasoline was COP5,560 and for diesel was COP12,485. In other words, to reach the international parity price (calculated against Producer Income), fuel prices had to be increased by those magnitudes.

Another factor that is considered is that the increases have an undoubted effect on inflation, directly and indirectly, José Ignacio López, director of Economic Research at investment bank Corficolombiana, said.

In 2011, truckers began a lengthy strike that hit coffee exports. Colombian truckers have caused disruptions before. In 2009 they struck for 10 days and in 2008 for two weeks. Unions often use short walkouts for leverage and the impact on exports still depends on how long the strike lasts.

Coffee players in Colombia warn a prolonged stoppage could hit supplies at a time when the world’s No. 3 coffee exporter is trying to recover output after lower-than-expected harvests last year. Colombia is also the world’s top producer of high-quality washed Arabica beans.

By Diana Delgado

 
  • Coffee

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