Fuel increases struck again. During the whole COVID pandemic, the decrease in our fuel prices brought some relief to an already struggling economy, just to increase amidst the restrictions being lifted.
What we thought to be a silver lining quickly vanished as the new increased rate erased almost all the relief we experienced in the fuel prices during the lockdown period.
Increase predictions by the AA were as follows: R1.73 for petrol, R2.14 for illuminating paraffin, and R1.74 for diesel.
Leaving us with a staggering R15.13 inland and R14.43 per litre for 95 Unleaded at our coastal areas and 93 ULP grade increasing to about R14.93. Pre-Lockdown we were at a peak of R15.71 for 93 ULP, where now we are just 78cents short than what we were.
So depending on the vehicle you drive costs will go up between R52.00 and R130.00 or more.
As the lockdown restrictions are slowly loosening its grip, the recent gush in the international oil prices has unfortunately knocked the air out of South Africas sails which the rand has brought, as it could just not compare.
During the month of June Brent crude oil was trading at about R41.40, this is about double of what it was in March.
The AA says that the rebound in international oil prices has been quite remarkable considering its fall earlier in the year. South Africa’s basic fuel price for both diesel and petrol almost doubled from R3.00 in May to an almost R6.00 in June.
Even though in June the rand increased about 34 cents to the US dollar, it was still about R2.50 weaker than what it was prior to the COVID-19 Pandemic. The AA also added that the collapsed rand is currently having a huge effect on fuel users.
If the rand remained in its pre-COVID state, fuel users would likely have seen a reduction in fuel prices instead of the 75 cents increase.
Even though we are experiencing heavy demands and trying to stay afloat in the flood of destruction that the pandemic brought, the markets have clearly not yet stabilised leaving us with a glimpse of that silver lining. Barely visible, but still there.