‘Diesel, petrol prices up by 69,9pc and 64,6pc’

WITHIN a six- year period, February 2018 to February 2024, diesel and petrol prices experienced significant increases of 69.9 percent and 64.6 percent, respectively, according to the Input Cost Monitoring (ICM) report.

The report published this week by the National Agricultural Marketing Council (Namc) notes that diesel has risen from R12.57 a litre to R21.36 a litre, while petrol has risen from R14.12 a litre to R23.24 a litre during this period

Meanwhile, crude oil prices have increased by 25 percent from $ 65.65 (R1247) a barrel to $82.03 a barrel, and in terms of rand value, crude oil prices rose by 100.7 percent from R775.33 a barrel to R1 556.11 a barrel.

Looking at the price difference of diesel and petrol over a year, between February 2023 and February 2023, petrol and diesel prices increased by 7.2 percent ( from R21.68 litre to R23.24 litre) and 0.2% (from R21.32 a litre to R21.36a litre), respectively.

Meanwhile, crude oil prices in US dollars decreased by 4.8 percent (from $86.16 a barrel to $82.03 a barrel), while in terms of rand value, crude oil prices increased by 0.8 percent (from R1 543.99 a barrel to R1 556.11 a barrel).

During this period, the rand depreciated by 5.9 percent against the dollar, moving from R17.92 to R18.97.

Commenting on the fuel price adjustment for April, the Agricultural Business Chamber (Agbiz) said it was good that diesel prices would see mild adjustments this month (not notable increases like those in petrol).

“Starting next month, the diesel price changes will matter most for agriculture.

We will begin a busy planting season for winter crops, harvesting for citrus, and harvesting in the early planted summer crops regions. Still, the general year-round fuel prices matter greatly for agribusiness transporting agricultural commodities and food products,” Agbiz said.

The organisation said the sector currently had a lot of products on the road. “For example, roughly 81 percent of maize, 76 percent of wheat and 69 percent of soybeans in South Africa are transported by road. On average, 75 percent of national grains and oilseeds and a substantial share of other agricultural products are transported by road.” —