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Cape Town - Stronger international fuel prices and a gradually weakening rand are signalling a hefty jump in the price of all fuel types at the end of August, the Automobile Association (AA) warned on Tuesday.
The association was commenting on unaudited mid-month fuel price data released by the Central Energy Fund (CEF).
"The rand has weakened an average of 20 cents against the dollar since the start of August. Meanwhile, international fuel product prices have remained on the higher plateau they reached towards the end of July," said the AA.
"This means all fuel types are likely to experience substantial price increases at month end."
The rand was trading 0.17% firmer from its previous close at R13.30/$ at 13:02 on Tuesday.
The price of petrol increased by 19c a litre at the beginning of August due to the weaker rand against the dollar and higher oil prices.
The AA’s mid-month fuel outlook prediction is, therefore, that petrol is expected to climb by a hefty 63c a litre, diesel by 57c and illuminating paraffin by 58c. The AA predicts that the increase in illuminating paraffin in particular will have a strong negative effect on households which rely on this fuel for cooking, lighting and heating.
"The rand's trend over the past two weeks has been towards further weakness against the dollar and international fuel prices have traded in a fairly narrow band, meaning we do not expect the picture to improve by month-end," said the AA.
"Fuel users should definitely expect to pay more for fuel from the start of September."
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