An “effort of solidarity.” The Minister of Energy Transition, Agnès Pannier-Runacher, set the tone this weekend on the air of Inter France asking fuel distributors to find solutions to limit price increases at the pump.
A message heard in part by the main stakeholders even before the meeting organized this Tuesday at the Ministry with the main players in the fuel market. In fact, most distributors have announced fuel sales operations “at cost”, that is, sold without margin.
Intermarché, Casino and Système U sell at cost price
Intermarché has announced four sales of this type over the coming months, throughout its network of gas stations. In detail, these operations will be carried out:
- Friday, September 29 and Saturday, September 30.
- Friday, October 27 and Saturday, October 28.
- Friday, November 24 and Saturday, November 25 and Friday, December 15 and Saturday, December 16.
Casino brand broadcasters are also affected by these types of sales. they will be organized
- Friday, September 29 and Saturday, September 30 as well as Sunday, October 1.
- Friday 6, Saturday 7 and Sunday 8 October,
- Friday the 13th, Saturday the 14th and Sunday the 15th of October
- as well as Friday the 20th, Saturday the 21st and Sunday the 22nd of October.
The operation “covers all Casino hypermarkets (except Corsica) with a service station,” the group states in a statement.
Finally, Système U indicated that it would also give up its margin and occasionally sell its fuels “at cost price”, without communicating, for the moment, the dates of these operations.
A limited effect for motorists.
But this effort by distributors will only have a limited effect on the amount paid by motorists at the pump. Indeed, as the president of Ufip Énergies et Mobilités, Olivier Gantois, recalled on Monday afternoon, BFM Business, “the net margin of distributors” is “of the order of one euro cent per liter.” Therefore, with a full tank of 70 to 90 liters, the savings will represent between 70 and 90 euro cents.
Totalenergies extends the price limit
With its dual role as refiner-distributor, Totalenergy went a little further with the extension of the cap on the price of its fuels. In a press release published this TuesdayTotalenergies announced that the fuel price cap at 1.99 euros will be extended beyond the end of 2023, “as long as prices remain high.” The initiative was taken last February. It currently affects 2,600 of the group’s 3,400 service stations and will offer greater savings to motorists. No other distributor has indicated at this time that it is considering this type of limitation.
“Unfair competition” for independents
As for independent service stations, they do not have the same room for maneuver as mass distribution stations. “A large store that sells many liters will have much lower supply costs, which will allow it to offer more aggressive, that is, lower, prices,” explains Olivier Gantois in BFM Business.
On the contrary, in a statement released this Tuesday, the Mobilians union, which represents professionals in the distribution and automobile services, recalled that the so-called traditional stations, faced with “the increases in the different costs of their activity”, had “a particularly reduced production capacity.” net margins” of between 0.8 and 2 cents for the “independents”.
The organization thus considers that sales operations at cost price “may constitute an act of unfair competition in several aspects.”
In fact, (large and medium-sized stations) depend on their non-fuel activities to offer an unbeatable fuel sales price, which is strictly impossible for other retailers,” he continues.
Source: BFM TV
