The most important harvest is about to be cropped, but Argentina is going through a shortage of diesel
fuel, and producers observe with concern the possible answers that the government will offer to oil companies. Meanwhile, this week, transporters are on strike as a protest for the high prices they must pay for fuel,
that is if they can get a hold of any.The request by agricultural producers and transporters seems quite basic, but the current national crisis continues to tumble even the most elemental suppositions. "Enough
quantity, at a reasonable price and in commercial conditions similar to the ones we had previous to the crisis," is the demand made by those whose productive activities are based on diesel fuel.
Agricultural
activities consume nearly half of the diesel fuel that is commercialized in Argentina, which during normal periods comes close to 850,000 cubic meters per month. At the same time, the country's internal distribution
system is sustained fundamentally on the basis of land transport. When trucks are on strike across the country, the risk of a shortage of supplies is imminent because alternative systems of transportation are not much
used.
The hand of the State
The gravity of the situation caused by a shortage of supplies and the rise of diesel fuel prices has forced the government of Argentine President Eduardo Duhalde to take
part in the conflict. The numbers show that, currently, less fuel is sold because after the devaluation of the peso in relation to the U.S. dollar, importations have fallen.
While oil companies sustain that the
solution of the conflict is centered on raising the price of a liter of diesel fuel to one peso, the government has offered another possibility, which will probably win out. On the one hand, the existence of inputs will
be guaranteed through the elimination of the ITC (Fuel Transference Tax) in the cases of purchases to foreign countries. This factor will reduce the cost of importation. At the same time, a register will be created in
order to limit the exportations of crude oil. Until now, Argentina is unaware of the volume of oil that leaves the country, a major reason why this information will be vital when having to regulate exportations when
there are internal shortages.
According to the official proposal, diesel fuel will have to be sold at 75 cents, at least until the end of July. With this, the normal harvest of crops should be guaranteed.
Crying over spilt milk
For a long time, a group of visionaries have been claiming the necessity of finding alternative fuels that will help control the cost of diesel fuel in the market. The production
of biodiesel has several advantages that are even greater during the current crisis.
A report presented by the Argentine Secretary of Agriculture in February points out that biodiesel fuel opens the door to the
"reactivation of regional economies, as a product of the increase of areas destined to oil crops (soybean, peanut, colza, palm, flaxseed, turnip, sunflower)", with the well known generation of jobs that this implicates.
"The possibility of self sufficiency in fuel of these economies is another advantage caused by the promotion of biodiesel", sustains the analysis by the Department of Agriculture.
The publication also expresses the
possibility of a "duplication of Argentine production of soybean in 3 years, through the substitution of importation of diesel fuel by biodiesel." To this must be added the environmental advantages: a decrease in carbon
dioxide (CO2) emissions which are a main cause of the greenhouse effect that causes global heating, and the decrease of sulfur emissions and carcinogenic components."
There is no use in being sorry for the
lack of impulse given to biodiesel over the last few years, but it is important to never forget these times of crisis in order to design productive policies with long term goals and to seek new and advantageous
alternative energy sources.
E-campo.com
