This Saturday, as planned, there was an increase in super gasoline, due to the increase in the international price of a barrel of oil, caused in turn by the current geopolitical conflict, but this change has no impact on any type of product or service. additional.
Currently around 4.5% of the country’s vehicles consume this type of gasoline, compared to 13% in 2018, according to Iván Casanova Reynoso, secretary of the Guayas Gas Station Owners Association. The percentage is expected to drop two tenths or half a point more due to the current situation.
According to economic analyst Jorge Calderón, demand has been declining since there began to be a migration to other types (eco-extra).
“Obviously the difference that is made is that the super is aimed at high-end cars and the other (types) are not. Usually the people of this type of fuel, before seeing a quality issue that benefits the durability of their vehicle, think of a question of price… but those trucks transport groceries between the provinces… heavy transportation in general, taxis, all of them consume extra, eco or diesel, which are subsidized, therefore there should be no price increase in products transported by vehicles. But unfortunately the speculative component of our economy causes this type of situation to generate certain scenarios and things that are not related to fuels begin to rise,” says Calderón.
Carlos Uribe, Professor of Economics at the Universidad San Francisco de Quito, agrees with him, since he affirms that super gasoline is not part of the production process of any good or service, therefore, the fact that it rises should not affect the price at all. of goods and services that use fuel as a productive input.
“Obviously people who have a car and consume super gasoline, they will feel it because it is the final good for them, but in more technical terms, the increase in the price of super gasoline does not increase the cost of intermediate goods,” Uribe points out.
The analyst also adds that in any case, the consumer can confuse this situation with what is going to happen in the coming months, when there will definitely be higher inflation than the country was getting used to. This has been around 0 for a long time and already this year it has risen around 2.7% and he believes that it will continue to rise in the coming months.
The increase would be due to other factors such as the war between Russia and Ukraine, but due to the issue of agricultural products, since Ecuador is an importer of urea, an input for a lot of agricultural products, and its price will rise further. Another is that there is already beginning to be much more economic activity than last year, when there were still quite a few restrictions due to the pandemic, and in that recovery there will be a significant increase in prices due to economic inertia.
“When we are in a recovery stage, prices tend to rise, at least until supply adjusts. I think that right now there are enough inflationary pressures, which do not come from the fuel side,” says Uribe.
The voice of the users
When making a tour of several gas stations, it was possible to observe how the final consumer price of supermarkets can vary depending on the company and/or the sector. For example, in Samborondón it was possible to observe that the price was $4.16, while in the airport sector it was $3.99 and other gas stations on Quito Avenue were $3.66. A day before (Friday) it was between $3.35 and $3.86.
Juan Carlos Barrionuevo comments that he uses super for his vehicle, an SUV with a 2.0 engine, and sees this increase as something that was seen coming due to the war, but that in addition to that he thinks that in Ecuador there are measures that affect the middle class with the tax issue and that added up everything looks more complicated, but that he will not change the type of gasoline because he has already tried mixing for economy and his car began to give him problems, so he went back to using only super, because apart from gasoline in the country no it has good quality.
“I used to tank 60 dollars a week before, now it will rise to almost 80 a week, which means that I will be spending about 320 dollars on fuel, plus the taxes that went up, so my economy will be affected personally,” he points out. Barrionuevo.
“The first thing I think about is why didn’t I put gas in yesterday,” says Karla Pazmiño as she fills up her car hatchback -1.4 engine-. He comments that he agrees that this fuel does not have a subsidy and hopes that at some point there will be real competition with more options so that the value can go down and a better service is offered in general.
“Terrible, it’s very hard. Before, I used to put up 10 dollars from the supermarket to go to and from Balzar, now I’m putting up 14 dollars,” says Raúl Morales, who goes to that canton to visit his mother, who is not in good health. He comments that he does not change to another type of gasoline because his car, with a 1.8 engine, can take its toll on the quality of the fuel and it will be more expensive in the long run. For now, he thinks that perhaps a solution would be to change his vehicle for a diesel one.
“Using supermarkets is for people who really have money to spare. Unfortunately today the economy has been very affected and one has to choose and opt for the cheapest option, but it is not that the eco is very cheap, “says Fabricio Aguilar, adding that only when he travels does he prefer to put half a tank of super to get better performance from your SUV 1.3.
While for Soraya Ordóñez it has not made a difference to switch to the eco, since she has not noticed any change in the performance of her 1.6 engine SUV.
Gas station dispensers also comment that many drivers now prefer to put eco or extra and use octane additives when tanking. Something that was predictable, according to analysts and representatives of the gas sector.
Casanova believes that the high price is partly due to Petroecuador’s inefficiency and believes that the private sector should be in charge of importing super gasoline with a lower base price. Also that he doesn’t think he can go any higher. (I)
Source: Eluniverso
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