Diesel Price Crisis – What Are The Long-Term Predictions For The Industry?

Diesel Price Crisis

The price of diesel hit an all time high in March this year, driven by escalations in Russia reflecting an increase in the global price of crude oil. Despite a 5ppl reduction in fuel duty recently announced by Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak, costs remain high with many hauliers still facing exceptionally high fuel costs. Understandably this has piled pressure on hauliers’ profits and has caused most to implement fuel surcharges to most customers. In turn this has helped drive up inflation with the cost of everything rising.

So, what does the future hold for the fuel prices? In the short term there will remain certain volatility as the situation in the east continues to bubble. As sanctions continue to bite, and with China continuing with sporadic Covid lockdowns, it seems inevitable that overall global demand for oil will drop and so will the price for the remainder of the year, although perhaps not to the levels seen before the disruption in Russia. This is good news for hauliers, although global instability and the speed of implantation of alternative fuels will be the key driver to long term prices stability.

Martin Fryer

Martin Fryer is Managing Director of a specialist haulage company as well as a qualified transport manager with experience across multiple different industries. He holds a BA (Hons) in Logistics and is a chartered member of the Institute of Logistics and Transport.

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