Anger and suffering mark the time line behind the scenes of a life that has, unfortunately, become complicated. The Middle East in flames has changed the history of the Western world, already modified by the conflict in Ukraine and by American tariffs. The prices of energy goods continue to grow according to an algorithm influenced, inevitably, by speculation as well as by the echoes of the war. The economy is currently being hit by increases in the supply chain whose original sin is the paralysis of the marketing of Arab oil. A distant clash which, however, ended up depositing its debris on the petrol stations of an already fragile region.
Calabrian families travel longer distances every day to work, study and take care of themselves. The price at the pump thus becomes the first indicator of social pressure which risks translating into a slow but constant decline in purchasing power. International tensions have reopened the season of energy price increases. Oil prices respond to a global algorithm in which geopolitical factors, speculative expectations and the fragility of logistics chains are intertwined.
Copagri: “Jump in agricultural diesel, a 46% increase in ten days”
In the Calabrian fields the price runs faster than logic. Eleven dollars more on crude oil, just 0.0069 euros per litre, do not explain, according to Copagri, the leap in agricultural diesel: from 0.92 to 1.35 euros per liter in ten days, an increase of 46%. «The price lists of petroleum by-products have begun to rise, but the surge in diesel fuel remains incomprehensible», denounces President Francesco Macrì. Even fertilizers follow the same trajectory: postponed deliveries, suddenly empty warehouses, prices higher by 25-30%. Agriculture fears that speculation causes more damage than distant war and Copagri calls for controls.
National Consumers Union: “The price escalation is already being transferred to fruit and vegetables”
But consumer associations also report growing tension on domestic budgets. «It is clear that the excise duties had to be reduced without waiting a month to ascertain the increased VAT collected. The price escalation is already being transferred to fruit and vegetables, especially those coming from Sicily, with such an abnormal increase that yesterday we presented a complaint to the Antitrust to verify whether there are any anomalous increases in prices in violation of the legislative decree of 9 September 2005, n. 182, agreements restricting competition or abuses of a dominant position”, accuses Massimiliano Dona, president of the National Consumers Union.