Diesel price surges N1, 700/ litre, as manufacturing, cost of doing business suffer  

When the government seems to getting hold over the volatility in the exchange rate, the price of diesel has been jumping at an alarming speed at a time power supply is at its lowest,

 

Checks in many filling stations in Lagos shows diesel sells at N1,700 per litre. Outside Lagos, the price is even higher. The situation is having a telling effect on manufacturing as most of them have adjusted prices of their manufactures upward in response to the cost of keeping light on in their factories.

 

Reliance on diesel is due to the unstable electricity supply from the national.

 

 

 

BusinessDay quoted a manager of a filling station, Kayode Olaniyi blaming the price increase to the difficulty marketers face accessing the product from the depot.

 

“The importers have been complaining about the exchange rate and if care is not taken it will further increase,” Abdulkadir Mustapha, the spokesperson of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria in Borno State, told BusinessDay.

 

Hassan Audu, a commercial diesel supplier in Lagos, said marketers were complaining about the rising cost of purchasing and distributing diesel.

 

“As at last week, it used to cost between N1,400 and N1,500 but now the price has increased and we have no choice but to buy,” he said.

 

The impact on businesses is devastating. “This exorbitant diesel price makes business planning a nightmare. It’s enough to deter investors,” a business owner who wished to remain anonymous said. “Many businesses like mine are on the brink of collapse.”

 

 

“The situation is unsustainable,” said Adeola Yusuf, owner of a medium-sized manufacturing firm in Lagos. “We spend more on diesel than any other input cost. With prices this high, we’re barely keeping our heads above water.”