According to the Confederation of Agriculture and Livestock of Brazil (CNA), the rise of the liter of diesel oil last month resulted in an increase of up to 6% in freight rate prices, which worries the suppliers of inputs. The assessment of the sector is that the measure could cause a collapse in the activity. According to the National Association for Diffusion of Fertilizers (Anda), between January and August of this year, 5% more fertilizers were transported than in the whole of last year. It looks like a breakthrough, but the association’s chief executive, Davi Roquette, says it’s a worrying number since August used to see 35% more transport than the average of previous months. The uncertainty of the sector is explained by the freight tariff, approved by Congress and sanctioned by the Presidency of the Republic after the truck drivers strike. The current minimum prices for freight transportation were defined by the National Land Transport Agency (ANTT), which brought an increase of up to 200% in freight, according to CNA. On top of the percentage, the confederation says that there was a new increase of up to 6%, after the price adjustment of the liter of diesel oil, at the end of last month. For the technical advisor of the Infrastructure and Logistics Commission of CNA, Elisangela Lopes, the tabulation is making production unsustainable in the country, mainly in relation to grains. It is not just the tabulation that presses the cost of agricultural production. ANTT still has to approve a draft resolution to increase the value of fines by R $ 5K in case of non-compliance with minimum freight prices. Currently, if the irregularity is found, the offender must indemnify the carrier for twice the difference between what was paid and the minimum price established. The CNA considers the measure impracticable. Direct actions of unconstitutionality have already been submitted to the Federal Supreme Court (STF), questioning the validity of the freight table. Júlio César Busato, president of the Thematic Chamber of Agricultural and Livestock Inputs, says that the team hopes that the STF will judge the table as unfounded, so that the market returns to normal. This is agribusiness’s last attempt to reverse law enforcement.
Src.: Global Fert