Fuel Prices Up a Fifth in Six Months, and the Po Plain Counts the Cost of Moving Goods

Petrol prices in Italy have increased by roughly 20 percent over the past six months, according to The Local Italy, which published a guide this week to what drivers should expect at the pump, where fuel is cheapest and what may come next. The outlet also compared prices across Europe, noting that the cost of filling a tank varies sharply between countries in part because governments have taken different measures to address the rise.

The same wire carries a related item from The Local Italy's daily roundup, which reported that Italy's deficit continues to infringe European Union budget rules. Taken together, the two items describe the constraint under which any Italian response to fuel costs would have to operate: a government with limited fiscal room facing a price shock that voters feel weekly.

Emilia-Romagna is unusually exposed to the price of diesel rather than petrol. The region's food exporters, packaging machinery makers and logistics operators move goods by road along the Via Emilia and out through the Adriatic ports and the Brenner corridor, and the cooperatives that dominate its agricultural processing run fleets that refuel continuously rather than occasionally.