System U president Dominique Schelcher expects a “sharp increase in fuel in the coming days” in France due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, he said on RMC and RMC Story on Thursday.
“The strongest consequence this (Thursday) morning of this conflict in Ukraine is the sharp rise in fuel prices in the days to come,” he said. “The euro is weakening once morest the dollar, and therefore the fuel we (traders) buys this morning costs at least ten cents more per litre, ”he added.
On Wednesday, it was the French Union of Petroleum Industries (Ufip) which had alerted to a probable risk of an increase in prices at the pump “by a few cents per litre”, when “we were already at historic highs “.
Concerns also regarding food prices
Soaring fuel prices, which have been hitting new highs for weeks, have been fueled by the global economic recovery and still tight supply from major oil-producing countries. This trend has been exacerbated since the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last week.
Asked regarding a risk of social unrest or a resurgence of the Yellow Vests movement, Dominique Schelcher assured that the atmosphere today was “not at all the same”. “I would speak more of resignation in the face of a reality that is imposed on everyone, everyone has understood that there is an international dimension” to this increase, he estimated.
VIDEO. “I am desperate”: consumers worried regarding rising prices
In addition, “30% of world wheat exports come from Ukraine and Russia”, and “three quarters of sunflower oil come from Ukraine and Russia”, he recalled. This might have consequences on “the medium and long term” insofar as, for example, “sunflower oil is used in the composition of countless products”, he underlined.
