After the devaluation jump, the large chains seek to put a stop to the increases of mass consumption companies. The kiosks and grocers request the same. Conflict at the door regarding price escalation.
After the jump in the official exchange rate announced by the Minister of Economy, Luis Caputo, to $800, large companies, which had already been updating price lists arguing delays due to regulatory agreements, echoed the devaluation and again sent lists with exorbitant increases.
Argentine News
November ended with a consumer price index of 12.8%. December, meanwhile, will show a noticeable difference after the devaluation: consulting firms estimate inflation close to 30%. In turn, the elected president, Javier Milei acknowledged that in the summer it could reach 40%. In this context, manufacturers of food and cleaning and hygiene items constantly push to install markings on shelves, but supermarkets They warned that such increases could no longer be received. There is tension between large chains and suppliers amid the liberalization of prices.
After the jump in the official exchange rate announced by the Minister of Economy, Luis Caputo, at $800, the large ones companieswhich had already been updating the price lists arguing delays due to regulatory agreements, They echoed the devaluation and again sent lists with exorbitant increases. During the past week, increases ranged between 30% and 40%, but this time, some items went further. A supplier informed this newspaper that on Wednesday he sold oil 112% more expensive than on Tuesday. Flour, almost 30% further. “The price agreements no longer work, there is no type of regulation. They will rise until demand drops,” says a representative of the dairy sector.
In that context the supermarketswith greater resistance than what a warehouse or small business can have, sent an alert to suppliers: “We received lists with marked dispersions in terms of prices, equaling or exceeding 100% increase and without falling below 25%,” they say from the sector. Although deregulatory policies invariably entail updates, both the completion of the Fair Prices program and that of the trusts (public and private) that regulated the price of oil, flour and baked goods, are not enough to justify the daily remarking on essential goods.
In this sense, supermarkets They assure that the increases that the industry “intends to impose” can no longer be absorbed “by the majority of consumers” despite “maximum efforts” being made to maintain “reasonable prices.” “The chains, in recent years, have given up profitability margins, payment terms, commercial conditions (volume discounts and others) in favor of the industry in order to have guaranteed supply that, on the other hand, was always below of demand”, they conclude from the sector.
However, the complaints do not only come from the large centers, but also from the warehouses and kiosks. For Fernando Savore, head of the Federation of Buenos Aires Grocers, buying in wholesale centers “is now impossible” and highlights which brands sent increases after Tuesday’s devaluation: “Nestlé sent us a list of 35%, Arcor 50% and Today Mondelez will send another one of the same value. It is impossible to be able to work like this,” he tells this newspaper.
From the other side they argue that, For suppliers, “the uncertainty is total too”. This is the case of dairy products: the Association of Small and Medium-sized Dairy Enterprises will meet this afternoon to define the scheme to follow. The thing is that, as they explain, a devaluation forces the price to increase at the local level to compete for the supply of the product, such as milk. “Until now we increased 10% monthly, but faced with these numbers we don’t know what to do. With the adjustment plan applied, so many increases are not going to be validated by demand,” analyzes a sector leader. In any case, the firepower to impose list prices between a large supplier and an SME is also significantly different.
For its part, the kilo of meat it is increasingly further away from the basic basket. Santa Fe refrigerators anticipated that it could reach $8,000 per kilo, while in CABA an increase that reaches $10,000 and $12,000 is being evaluated. The Cañuelas market offered prices almost 50% higher than last Tuesday, reaching up to $1900 per kilo. For Eduardo Buzzi, former head of the Agrarian Federation, the effects of the drought are still being felt and the loss of one and a half million calves during the previous summer keeps the supply reduced.
Kiosk owner Claudio Páez summarizes a fateful week in this way: “On Monday at noon, after the inauguration, increases of 15% arrived first and then 25%. Already on Tuesday we woke up with increases of 60% in noodles, 40% in chewing gum and 50% in chocolates. On Wednesday there were increases in beers and imported products such as lighters at 100%, condoms at 60% and pills and cookies at 50%.” “Yesterday we changed 14 lists and I still had two missing. Chaos began,” he warns.
Source: Ambito
