Prolonged high petrol prices put pressure on inflation

afr.com:

Sea Legs general manager Declan Roche says prolonged high petrol prices are driving up the costs of getting his Brisbane brewery’s beer into the hands of customers.

Businesses and households across Australia have had to pay petrol prices of more than $2 a litre over the past fortnight, and the pain at the bowser is also putting more pressure on inflation and boosting the chances the Reserve Bank could raise interest rates again.

Petrol prices have been higher than $2 a litre for weeks. Dion Georgoloulos

When petrol prices spiked last year after the start of the war in Ukraine in early 2022, some people thought the elevated costs would be short-lived.

But high petrol prices, along with high electricity and gas prices, are another business input for companies such as Sea Legs, which operates at Kangaroo Point underneath the Story Bridge in Brisbane’s CBD.

Mr Roche said a third-party operator does most of their beer delivery but they now faced an increase of supplier costs – up 30 per cent in the past year – and petrol for their sales team over the past year.

“The price of everything has just gone through the roof,” Mr Roche told AFR Weekend.

“We now try to pick up our supplies ourselves rather than having them delivered.”

Motoring organisation NRMA’s weekly report said the average price for regular unleaded fuel in Sydney was $1.95 on Monday afternoon this week.

It said the average price for unleaded fuel fell 5.2 cents per litre last week and should fall to $1.90 cents per litre next week. The average diesel price in Sydney is about $2.15 a litre.

The Fuel Price Australia website said average unleaded prices topped $2 a litre in five capital cities such as Brisbane, Perth and Canberra this week.

AMP chief economist Shane