The road transport industry has been seeing for months how operating costs are rising without any action currently being taken by the Government that meets its needs. This was reported to FARO DE VIGO, a newspaper belonging to the same group as this media, sources different from the union assure they have seen how the price of fuel has doubled since last year, representing about 40 percent. percentage of their total cost. Ramón Alonso, president of the Galician Freight Forwarding Federation (Fegatramer), put this figure on the table. “We were already at the top a month ago and now we’re even worse,” he complains, “absorbed by the steady upswing.”
Along the same lines, Javier Touza, president of the Vigo Port Fishermen Owners Cooperative (ARVI), also spoke. Although he says he notices the extra cost mainly in maritime transport, he admits that land transport is also affected, which means the pregnancy of a kind of perfect storm for the sector. FARO says the rise in diesel and gasoline prices for fresh fish transport is “particularly” noteworthy. For example, at Gran Sol fishing grounds, ships unload produce in Ireland and when it arrives in the UK, it is transported by truck to Vigo, where it is distributed to different parts of Spain.
This route between Great Britain and Galicia has been “at least” 10% so far this year and “closer to 30%” in the last 12 months. The situation for shipowners is doubly sensitive, as their inherent reliance on shipping means the industry is already particularly hard hit by the lockdown at China’s Shanghai port, motivated by the zero-COVID policy implemented to settle in giant Asia. with the pandemic. Wait times in this megacity have tripled, from four days to 12 days, as this newspaper previously published.
Industry sources interviewed agree that the Government’s measure to reduce 20 cents per liter of gasoline and diesel is insufficient. This reduction was approved under a royal decree on March 29 (and enacted on April 1), which the Executive carried out to mitigate the effects of the war in Ukraine. The state undertakes 15 cents, the remaining five cents are covered by the oil companies.
What happens is that, at least initially, this discount will only be available until June 30, which only adds uncertainty to the industry. Alonso, who is also upset that this discount does not cover the increase in fuel prices in recent months, says, “We do not know how we will be on July 1”. “They give you 20 cents, but if they give you 22 cents, that’s not a solution,” he says.
For the chairman of Fergatramer, the solution is not to take a one-time measure, but to constantly monitor the price of a barrel of oil and take measures according to the fluctuations he experiences.
The 20 cent discount does not convince Touza, who offers a different solution. “The measure we’re looking for is to ensure that these extra costs are reflected in the selling price,” he says. “Price is not very flexible. We continue to sell the product at auction, that is, as much as they pay us.” For the head of ARVI, the food chain law should be reconsidered.
He also believes that measures to stem the rise in fuel prices need to be more ambitious and cross-cutting because a global presence is “vital” for the Galician fishing industry. There is also water that we cannot reach due to the increase in prices,” he explains.
In the case of shipowners from Vigo, one more hurdle must be added. As a result of the truckers’ strike, shipping companies have come to a series of agreements to allow ground carriers to continue operating, but these agreements “represent an additional cost” to what they have already paid.
As a result, this understanding between both sectors was fundamental, because where Touza “mainly” realized, it is in the prices of sea freight, but also intertwined with those of land transportation. “This is a knock-on effect. When the fuel goes up, everything goes up,” he protests.
Freight from Spain to UK, the most expensive in Europe
According to the “Comparative map of road freight transport in Europe” prepared by the special platform Upply, in the first quarter of this year, road transport of goods between Spain and the UK increased to 2,489 euros per trip. . This is the most expensive route of all routes between European countries studied by this organization. The reverse route from the UK to Spain, which is of great importance for Galician shipyards working on Gran Sol, costs 1,596 Euros. Traveling the goods to France costs 1,525 euros, and importing Gallic products into our country costs 1,417 euros one way. Meanwhile, ground traffic with Germany (the other route of our country examined by the Upply report) is 1,763 euros per trip for imports from Germany and 1,631 euros for exports to Berlin.
Source: Informacion
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