The price of petrol has started to rise again recently. Motorists who travel the roads of Ticino and scrutinize the numbers displayed at service stations in search of the most advantageous price have noticed this. 1.95 francs per liter of petrol at a petrol station in the Bellinzona area. 1.76 for the same fuel in Mendrisiotto (among the lowest figures we found). As is known, diesel prices are higher. In these cases, two francs per liter are often exceeded even if there are some exceptions, depending on the region and the distribution station: 1.89 francs per liter in a “free petrol station”, i.e. a petrol station that does not belong to large groups. Also highlighting a tense situation on the price front is the Tcs, which has already reported nine corrections since the beginning of the year. Usually there are about ten in twelve months.
‘Free distributors reduce prices’
The prices found at the petrol pumps along the motorway are very different. Here you end up paying up to 40 or 50 cents more. 2.40 francs per liter for petrol, over 2.50 for diesel. “There are various reasons that explain this sometimes important difference,” he tells ‘laRegione’ Barbara Antonioli Mantegazzini, full professor at the faculty of economic sciences at USI, where she is also deputy director of the Economic Research Institute (Ire), and Supsi professor. «Motorway distributors certainly enjoy an advantage linked to lower competitive pressures. They are the only ones for a certain route and leaving the motorway to look for a station along the regional roads is not always convenient, especially for a tourist. It must also be said – adds Antonioli Mantegazzini – that these are often large stations which have higher costs”. As a rule, the studies conducted highlight how distributors, who often belong to large groups, “tend to look at what the competition is doing and to be more cautious in practicing downward pricing policies”. Otherwise, on cantonal roads, a greater concentration of free “distributors” can trigger competition dynamics to offer the most advantageous price. «On regional roads, entrepreneurs, who perhaps have family-run businesses with lower personnel costs and a shorter supply chain, are trying to carve out their share of the market. While on the motorway, for the reasons stated previously, we rarely find this dynamic.” The same situation can also be found beyond Gotthard, where the final petrol prices on the motorway are similar to those in Ticino. «The data shows it Comparis.ch. There are perhaps some disparities with some regions where there is a greater concentration of petrol stations along the motorway. But in general the differences are not excessive despite the fuel arriving following different routes: normally from Italy the one from Ticino and from northern Europe the one beyond the Gotthard».
‘Switzerland doesn’t have much of an impact on the price’
When talking about the price of fuel, we must also remember what factors determine it and their “weight”. «About half of what we spend at the distributor ends up in taxes», says Antonioli Mantegazzini. At the beginning of 2022, when fuel prices had reached their peak, many countries had decided to accommodate motorists by reducing taxes. In Italy, for example, excise duties had been suspended for a certain period. Switzerland had instead opted for a more “wait-and-see” policy, therefore waiting for prices to fall without intervening. «The tax revenue from fuel taxes is used for many other things. Reducing them means burdening the costs of these expenditure items on the community, even on those who are not drivers”, says the USI professor. Other factors that affect the price are also difficult to control, such as raw materials and transport. «Oil, which is traded in dollars, has its own market. Switzerland can do very little because, even by modulating its own demand, it is unable to make much of an impact. There are other factors that determine the trend of this component of the price then requested at service stations”. Among these: the quantity of production of the extracting countries, geopolitical tensions and transport costs. “It is certainly the component that has most caused the fluctuations of this period,” says the deputy director of the Ire. “In recent years we have had the supply ‘bottleneck’ after the recovery from the pandemic, the war in Ukraine, the 2022 drought which reduced transport capacity on the Rhine and now the conflict in the Middle East. These are factors that weigh negatively on the final price. Although it must be said that this has continued to rise since 1995.”
‘It’s a free market and entrepreneurs take a business risk’
And what about the entrepreneurs’ share of the proceeds? «According to Avenergy Suisse it is around twenty percent», replies Antonioli Mantegazzini. «It should however be remembered that it is a free, unregulated market. It is sobering when station owners are reproached for ‘making margins’. These are actors who take on a business risk and who with that margin must pay for their work, that of any employees and pay the invoices.”
The margin for maneuver for the consumer is therefore very limited. «Travelling by car is often a necessity that is difficult to give up. You can try, as far as possible, to switch to public transport or share the journey and expenses with other people. These are banal pieces of advice – admits the Supsi researcher – but in the short term not much else can be done.” The most incisive interventions are in fact of a structural nature and concern working methods, with the possible implementation of teleworking, changes in consumption methods and the strengthening of public transport. An example: «Going from the center of Lugano to the center of Bellinzona is now more convenient by train».
