These are unprecedented times at the pump. For the first time, diesel is more expensive than petrol at some petrol stations. It’s all because of the war in the Middle East. Diesel in particular is imported from that region, but due to the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, an important transit route, imports are now at a standstill. This has consequences for the industry and transport sector, and ultimately also for us as consumers.
Jasper Kievit from the transport company of the same name from Tynaarlo adjusts his computer screen. “Look, here you see the fuel prices of the past few weeks. Normally they fluctuate around one euro seventy, but after last Wednesday the prices started to rise. We are now at one euro ninety-five. That’s just an increase of twenty cents per liter.”
Never before has Kievit seen such high diesel prices, which are also rising very quickly. “We had a similar situation in 2022, when Russia invaded Ukraine. Then the price for diesel remained around two euros per liter. But when you see what you now have to pay at the pump: that is really unprecedented.”
At various petrol stations in Drenthe it is now more expensive to fill up with diesel than petrol, while it is usually the other way around. The national recommended price for diesel is now 2.375 euros per liter.
Kievit has 20 cars on the road. “We mainly transport packages, but we also transport fertilizer and flowers.” This continues seven days a week, 24 hours a day. “We use 400,000 liters of diesel annually.”
He doesn’t have any worries about it. “As a carrier, we pass on the tax to our clients on a one-to-one basis. We are certainly not going to pay for those increased fuel costs out of our own pocket, the margins in our sector are already so small,”
But the transport company’s clients also pass on the financial pain. “It’s a circle. Ultimately, the costs end up with the consumer. If this continues for a few more weeks, we will notice it in the supermarket,” Kievit concludes.
