KATARINA FILIPE
Consumers' wallets are set to take another hit, with high fuel prices pushing up costs on supermarket shelves.
The price of 91 octane petrol has been 215.9 cents a litre since Tuesday.
Otago University professor Hugh Campbell, from the Centre of Agriculture, Food and Environment, said consumers could expect to see food prices rise "fairly soon".
Food such as bread, dairy products and basic meat, which were influenced by world commodity prices, had the potential for an "alarming" increase. Food influenced by transport costs, such as fruits and vegetables, would also cost more, he said.
In Timaru, one transport company had already passed on the cost to its customers.
Hilton Haulage managing director Peter McAuley said the rising price of diesel over the last six months meant an extra $750,000 a year for his company.
"It's a hell of an increase and it's looking likely that it's going to carry on a bit yet."
The company had increased its prices by up to 5 per cent, he said.
"It's got to be passed on immediately. Our transport operators can't absorb that – we'd go broke."
While customers were not happy with the increase, there was a "general acceptance" that the rising price of diesel was something Hilton Haulage could not control, Mr McAuley said.
Timaru Taxis manager Arnold Garchow said the company had not increased fares yet.
"We can't just change fares overnight. It's a six-day to a week period from when we decide we want to do it to when we can do it. It's a volatile situation. We've got to think of our customer base as well. Sometimes you've just got to absorb it," he said.
At one Timaru service station, staff have been feeling the pressure even from behind the counter.
Caltex Washdyke owner Rob Anderson said staff copped a bit of abuse every time the price of petrol rose.
"Some [customers] get quite nasty. They seem to think it's the service station owner that's putting the price up. It's hard to [explain to them] ... why the price has gone up. You just take it on the chin," Mr Anderson said.
When prices increased, service stations were "worse off". Before any costs were taken out, such as staff wages, Mr Anderson said he made a profit of 4.5c a litre on petrol and 3.25c on diesel.
If a customer paid by credit card, that profit dropped to about 2c and .75c respectively.
"Unfortunately we have got no control over it," he said.
Automobile Association (AA) spokesman Mark Stockdale said a typical car with a 60-litre fuel tank would cost $130 to fill from empty on 91 octane.
A trip from Timaru to Christchurch, about 160 kilometres, would cost $30 in petrol. The same trip would cost $16 using diesel, plus $7 in road user charges, he said.
With cars becoming too costly to fill, some might turn to scooters in an effort to cut back.
Timaru Honda salesman Tom Young said they expected scooter sales to pick up in the next couple of months.
"A couple of years ago [when petrol hit 218.9c a litre] we sold a huge amount of scooters. We had to order more in," Mr Young said.
The most popular scooter was the Today 50. It cost $2145, including GST, and had a five-litre tank, which could last about 170km, he said.
Registering a standard petrol car or a 50cc scooter for 12 months was not greatly different in price, but the scooter fee was about $120 more than a car.
PUMP PRICE EQUATION
The AA says the petrol price consists of the following costs:
National Land Transport Management Fund – 48.524 cents a litre
ACC levy – 9.9c Petroleum or Engine Fuel Monitoring Levy – 0.045c
Local Authorities Fuel Tax – 0.66c
Emissions Trading Scheme – 3c On top of that, GST is charged on the overall price of fuel.
At the current retail price of $2.159, GST is 28.16c a litre. Total: 90.289c in taxes.
There is no tax on diesel except GST. At the current retail price of $1.599, GST is 20.86c a litre.
AA'S 10 FUEL-SAVING TIPS
1. Get your car serviced regularly, have the right tyres for the conditions, correct tyre pressure and wheel alignment.
2. Don't speed. By travelling at 100kmh instead of 110kmh you can cut around 13 per cent off your fuel bill.
3. Drive smoothly – accelerate smoothly and slowly away from green lights and stop gradually for red lights.
4. Look ahead to maintain a more constant speed.
5. Corner smoothly.
6. Lift off the throttle as you crest hills and use the car's momentum to get you over the top.
7. Watch the use of your air conditioning.
8. Keep your load down.
9. Reduce idling time – if you're stationary for more than 30 seconds, turn your engine off.
10. Avoid short trips. AA tests last year revealed: Poor driving style used almost 20 per cent more fuel Added weight and drag used 11.11 per cent more Incorrect tyre pressures used 7.76 per cent more Air conditioning off saved 8.68 per cent Using fuel-efficient tyres saved 4.71 per cent
- The Timaru Herald
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