It appears that South African motorists may need to bite down even harder as a dramatic increase in the price of petrol is expected for March 2023 while Diesel may only see a slight blip in price.
Based on the current market trends the expectation at the moment is that the inland price of Petrol 93 will increase by R1,26, while Petrol 95 might increase by R1,20. This increase would see the inland price of petrol per lite rocket to R22,64 (93) and R22,88 (95). Coastal prices of petrol 93 and 95 may increase to R21,99 and R22,23 per litre respectively. As for Diesel, expectations allude to an increase of 37 cents per litre, resulting in the inland cost of a litre of Diesel increasing from R21,32 to R21,69. Coastal prices of Diesel are expected to increase from R20,67 to R21,04.
The Department of Energy made a point of highlighting the volatile nature of the fuel price and stated that these estimates may vary greatly come to the end of the month. Factors contributing to the tumultuous opening three months range from the volatile nature of the oil price, which currently sits at $87 a barrel but experts speculate that this may increase significantly in the future. Rand’s poor health has also contributed to the under-recovery experienced in 2023, followed by a strengthening of foreign currencies and a winning in confidence from investors towards domestic governance.
Paraffin may also see a drastic increase as data suggests that the inland cost price could soar from R15,84 to R16,25 while coastal prices may only increase by roughly 30 to 40 cents. Early speculation for February suggested a decrease, unfortunately, an increase was ultimately a reality for the motorists of South Africa in march 2023. With less than two weeks till month end, current market trends may set the increase in stone.
