Rising prices: And what if gasoline prices had nothing to do with it?

For a few days now, many products have recorded a price increase that is sometimes dizzying. No sector of the economy is spared: fruits and vegetables, fish, construction materials such as cement or iron, electronic components, telephone accessories … The reason invoked  each time: the rising gasoline prices, so much so that some organizations have called for public financial assistance in the form of a cap on the price of fuel, with a temporary subsidy granted to consumers until prices return to normal. To achieve this, a dozen trade unions have even called for a 72-hour strike from Monday, March 07, onwards. A threat defused late last week by Mohamed Abdeljalil, Minister of Transport, who is in contact with three groups of associations: those affiliated with the General Confederation of Moroccan Companies (CGEM), plus a group of organizations attached to the UGEP (employers close to the Istiqlal party from which the Minister himself comes), and finally, a disparate group representing drivers and supported by unions such as the Democratic Confederation of Labour(CDT), the Moroccan Workers’ Union (UMT), The General Union of Moroccan Workers (UGTM), the Democratic Federation of Labor (FDT), and others. The claims are not the same, but the Minister has listened to everyone. The common point remains the increase in the price of fuel. The difference is mainly on how to neutralize it. Among those unanimous claims, one voice challenges the consensus. «The problem of transport is much deeper than the question of the increase in gasoline prices and I can demonstrate this with figures. Let’s take the example of a 28,000 kg truck, carrying a load from Casablanca to Agadir, that is to say a round trip of about 1,000 km. In general, this trip is charged between 6,000 and 7,000 Dirhams to shippers. Knowing that a semi-trailer consumes 40 liters per 100 km, if gasoline increases, for example, by 2 Dirhams to reach 12 Dirhams per liter, this would represent an additional fuel expense of 800 Dirhams, which the carrier will pass on to his client», says a major operator who wished to remain anonymous.
The impact on consumers should therefore be only 3 cents per kg of tomato transported, i.e. 800 Dirhams divided by 28,000 kg of tomatoes, and not astronomical increases as is currently the case. With the exception of products whose prices depend on international prices and logistical costs abroad, such as iron, fuel, table oil, certain inputs, those manufactured locally should not experience price increases beyond the reach of consumers. «The real problem of the transport of goods on the road is the multiplicity of intermediaries and producers as well as speculation», explains the operator. The proliferation of intermediaries without any added value necessarily contributes to the increase in prices since each intermediary must take its profit margin whose sum exceeds by far that of the producers.

Hassan EL ARIF