The price acceleration, which has been anticipated by iProfessional, is once again focused on food. 8% floor for May?
By Claudio Zlotnik
01/05/2023 – 10,27hs
Most of the economic consultants worsened, in the last hours, their inflation forecasts for the month of April. The worst development, once again, occurred in the food sectordespite the controls maintained by the Government.
The consultancy LCG, which monitors the evolution of the food prices week-over-week, he measured food inflation rising to 9.5% (end-to-end) over the past four weeks.
Ecolatina, another of the consultancies that follows the movements in the gondolas on a regular basis, agreed that the food item would have risen 9.5% during the same month.
In the case of C&T Consultores (directed by Camilo Tiscornia), the survey of retail prices gave a monthly increase of 7.6% in April. “The interannual variation climbed to 112.4%, the highest since September 1991,” the latest report highlights.
Other consultancies also measured that the 7% projected at the beginning of the month, as the weeks progressed it could have been established as a flat.
The keys to this acceleration are linked to all products that are not integrated into Fair Pricesthe program that the Government supports but that the companies want to rediscuss.
The keys to acceleration
The biggest rises in food prices occurred during the last fortnight, in line with the currency run. Some companies even applied two price hikes throughout the month, an event that had not occurred until now and which boosted the index.
The acceleration of prices, which has been anticipated by iProfesional, is once again focused on food
According to a survey of iProfessional Between manufacturers, small businesses and wholesalers, this new round of adjustments will be applied to some sensitive items on the Argentine table: dairy products, oils, cookies, sugar and non-alcoholic beverages.
In the case of dairyone of the items most impacted by the inflationary acceleration, to the increase of 10% that they had at the beginning of April, some companies will add an additional 8%. In non-alcoholic beverages, the average rise was 8% a couple of weeks ago, and now between 4% and 5% will be added, depending on the different brands. In oils, the new increase will be around 7.7%. Although for some companies, this increase will be the only one in April.
The sugar chapter is a separate case. Although the monthly increase It goes between 6% and 8%, the concrete thing is that there is a shortage in the market.
The inflationary dynamics it is heating up: what until a few weeks ago was an average inflation of 5%, then went to 6% and quickly to 7% per month. This is the new floor for the IPC. And no one can rule out that the process will worsen in the coming days.
