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SAO PAULO – On the morning of this Thursday (18), Petrobras (PETR3; PETR4) made an announcement that brought relief to investors in the state’s stock amid the pricing policy controversy that gripped the company’s radar in early February.
Petrobras confirmed a 10% increase in the prices of gasoline and 15% of diesel in its refineries, which will be R $ 0.23 and R $ 0.34 more expensive as of Friday (19). With this new setting, a liter of gasoline will cost R $ 2.48 and diesel, R $ 2.58.
With the new readjustments, the liter of gasoline in refineries accumulated a positive variation of 34.78% since the beginning of the year, while diesel rose 27.72% in the same period.
Market analysts point out that, after this new adjustment, the company will practically close the price gap in relation to the international market.
“We see the diesel discount now at just 3.9%, while the gasoline discount drops to just 1.8%. We see this as very positive news for Petrobras, which mitigates part of the risk. If there is no strong reaction from the truckers, the price risk for Petrobras decreases significantly ”, say analysts from Bradesco BBI. Recently, the bank’s analysts lowered the newspaper’s recommendation to equivalent to neutral, seeing a greater risk to the company’s pricing policy.
Credit Suisse, which also points out the news of this strong increase as positive, but noting that now the discount in relation to import parity is US $ 4 a barrel for gasoline (5% discount) and US $ 5 a barrel. barrel for diesel. (6% discount).
Ativa Investimentos’ economic analysis team ran the lag models after the readjustment was announced and estimated that there is still potential for further price increases in the short term.
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“Our best model points to a possible readjustment, upwards, of another 5%. This happens because the international price of gasoline continues to be pressured by the price of oil ”, says Guilherme Sousa, economist at Ativa Investimentos. The economist also points out that Petrobras may not immediately increase the remaining 5%, but that there is still potential for that in the short term.
In a statement, Petrobras emphasized that it maintains its prices in line with those of the international market, which, according to the state company, “is essential to ensure that the Brazilian market continues to be supplied without the risk of shortages by the different actors responsible for serving to the different Brazilian regions ”.
The company also says that, in 2020, it cut prices at its refineries following external swings.
Last month, truckers criticized Petrobras for allegedly setting the price of diesel too much.
At the same time, a group of importers denounce that the company is selling gasoline and diesel at very low prices compared to the international market, which would be compromising competition.
The state-owned company, in Thursday’s statement announcing the readjustment, once again emphasizes its arguments that it maintains the policy of international parity, which would allow competition in domestic trade.
Furthermore, it reaffirms that the price in its refineries is not the only component in the formation of the amount paid by consumers at the pump. “Until it reaches the consumer, federal and state taxes, acquisition costs and mandatory biofuel blending are added, in addition to the gross margins of the distribution companies and fuel sales stations,” he says.
The session has gains of around 1% for Petrobras shares, according to the price at the end of the morning. However, at the high of the day, just after the announcement of the readjustment, the shares reached a jump of around 4.5%.
(With Agência Estado)
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