Biofuels: the Government decided to increase the price up to 90%

The Secretary of Energy decided to implement a gradual and progressive scheme to recompose biofuel prices, which will be applied gradually over five stages until next May, to recognize the costs that the industry faces due to the delay in the value regulated by the State.

Through resolutions 1/2021 and 2/2021, of the Secretary of Energy, Darío Martínez, who will be published this Monday in the Official Gazette, New acquisition prices were set for biodiesel destined for its mandatory blend and cane-based bioethanol, and maximum terms of thirty consecutive days were imposed for the oil companies to pay the bills, among other issues.

The agreed price recomposition path made it possible to set a new initial value from the publication of the standard in the Official Gazette of $ 77,300 per tonne for operations to be carried out during the current month of January. In February the price will be $ 86,875 per ton; in March $ 89,975; in April $ 90,300 and in May $ 92,558 per ton of biodiesel, which will mean a recomposition of 90.7%.

In the case of biodiesel, Resolution 1 also establishes a reduction in the mandatory cut-off percentages for diesel, with a gradual increase until reaching 10% in April.

Both measures were the result of meetings and negotiation rounds of the Secretary of Energy and the chambers of the sector, and it has not yet been clarified to what extent the new prices will or will not impact gasoline and diesel for sale to the public.

In this context, Martínez highlighted “the good disposition of the SMEs in the Sector and the work of the team of the Subsecretary of Hydrocarbons and Fuel, which have made it possible to trace a gradual and progressive path of price recomposition”.

The Secretary of Energy stressed that the consensus reached “Involves biodiesel producers from the entire production chain as well as the companies nucleated in the chambers of sugarcane bioethanol producers “.

In the case of biodiesel used to cut diesel by 10%, the measure, which consists of five stages in each case, and is expected to last until May, involves gradual changes in both prices and the expected percentages of cut.

Article 1 of Resolution 1 of the Ministry of Energy establishes the suspension, until May 31, of the procedure for the determination of the acquisition price of biodiesel set in March 2018, as well as the modifications introduced in April 2019.

The second article, for its part, determines the new acquisition prices for biodiesel destined for his mandatory mixing with diesel, which were set since October 15 at $ 48,533, upon receiving authorization for an increase of 10% after just over 10 months of freezing.

They also decided to temporarily substitute, for the months of January, February and March, the mandatory proportion of biodiesel in its mixture with the total volume of diesel fossil fuel that was established in resolution No. 1,283 of September 2006 and resolution No. 660 of August 2015.

Thus, for January the cut was established at 5%; 6.7% in February and 8.4% in March, with which as of April the cut-off percentage of 10% of mix established by the temporarily replaced standards will return.

The new rule also temporarily suspends the monthly allocation of biodiesel in the period between January and May 2021, reducing pro rata the amounts that correspond to companies in the sector.

In the case of bioethanol, resolution 2 suspends until May 31, 2021 the procedure for determining the acquisition price of bioethanol used to cut gasoline by 12% and sets the new prices on a path that is also increasing. progressive.

Martinez declared that the Government and the producers are “very satisfied. And he concluded:” In a very difficult moment for everyone, it was possible to converge on a path that will allow the recovery of the activity of Bioethanol based on Sugar Cane. “

The article reflects the agreement with the chambers of a similar price path from the base value set on October 15 at $ 32,789 per ton, after applying at that time a 10% increase over the values ​​in force since December 2019.

Thus, it was agreed to set a value from the publication of the standard in the Official Gazette of $ 43,600 per ton for the operations to be carried out during the current month of January.

In February the new fixed price will be $ 47,800 per ton; in March $ 48,700; in April $ 49,600 and in May $ 51,132 per ton of biodiesel, which will mean a recomposition of 55.9%.

Telam Agency