MOTORISTS will again feel the pinch as petrol prices go up today.
The Department of Energy last week announced an increase of 21c and 23c in the pump price of 93 and 95 octane respectively. It attributed the increases to higher international prices and a weaker rand.
Motorists at the coast will now pay R11.85 for a litre of petrol, while the wholesale diesel price goes up 40c to R11.34.
Nelson Mandela Bay Business Chamber chief executive Kevin Hustler advised motorists to avoid unnecessary trips.
"The reported rise in petrol price is very bad news for business, already very hard hit and struggling to cope with sharply rising input costs. It is bad news for consumers too, whose budgets are squeezed tighter every passing day. An increase in petrol price affects logistics, as transport costs are directly affected.
"We advise motorists to look at car pooling as an option to save fuel. As input costs rise, so prices rise, hitting the pockets of consumers and reducing the competitiveness of business," Hustler said.
"A price hike such as this impacts on the competitiveness of local industry in the international market and increases the threat of business failures and job losses, which the city can ill afford."
When unleaded 95 octane petrol was introduced in 1996, a litre was R1.74. The old 97 octane petrol was R1.46 a litre in 1992, while the basic cost of 97 octane petrol in January 1989 was only 39c a litre.
Meanwhile, the single maximum national retail price for illuminating paraffin will increase by 44c to R8.67 a litre. The maximum retail price for liquid petroleum gas will decrease by 3c per kilogramme.
