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Indonesia feels the pinch as oil, commodity prices surge
AFP
With prices for key commodities at record highs, Indonesia — Southeast Asia’s biggest economy and a key exporter — should, at first glance, be enjoying good times.
But with high oil prices leading to a government fuel subsidy blowout and rising food prices hitting the poor, analysts say most Indonesians are being squeezed.
(31 March 2008)
Truckers to protest fuel costs
Dwight Adams, The Indianapolis Star via USA Today
Facing mounting diesel fuel costs and shrinking profits, some truckers nationwide are making plans to protest this week by parking their semis or clogging traffic by driving slowly.
The truckers say average diesel gas prices, which AAA reported had risen over the past month from $3.38 to $3.91 a gallon nationally as of Friday, are forcing some drivers out of business.
(31 March 2008)
China diesel rationed, despite government pledges
Rujun Shen and Jim Bai, Reuters
Gas stations on China’s booming east coast were rationing diesel, pump attendants said on Tuesday, despite Beijing’s insistence that its refiners will ensure supplies at unprofitable state-set prices.
“The line outside our station is at least one kilometer long,” said one station manager in coastal Fujian province
…With international crude prices climbing briefly above $110 a barrel this month, refiners were again selling at tens of dollars below the level that would allow them to break even on processing.
But Beijing is reluctant to raise fuel prices because inflation is at its highest in more than a decade, and earlier this month promised there would be no increases in the short-term.
(25 March 2008)
