Fuel prices rise as shortages deepen across Sudan

Fuel prices have risen in several Sudanese states as shortages and long queues return to Khartoum, piling pressure on households already struggling with soaring food prices and a weaker pound.

The White Nile State Council for the Organisation and Development of Public Transport approved a new fuel price composition, setting a gallon of petrol at SDG38,805 Sudanese pounds in Kosti, Rabak, El Guteina and Ed Duweim localities.

The council recommended adding SDG20 per gallon in transport costs across a number of towns and localities.

For families in White Nile State, the struggle is increasingly about getting through each day.

Wa’ad Idris, a housewife and mother of four, told Radio Dabanga that she starts each morning calculating what the family can afford and what it must go without.

“We start our day and we worry about how to get through it. Life has become very difficult,” she said. “During the war we used to say that life is difficult, but with the recent circumstances and the rise of the dollar, the prices of everything have risen significantly, and the citizen has become unable to meet his simple daily needs.”

Idris said cooking oil had risen from about SDG10,000 to SDG19,000, while a bottle of onions increased from SDG2,000 to SDG7,000. A pound of milk for children costs about SDG3,000.

She said the family had cut its meals from two a day to one basic meal, with the second depending on whether food was available or affordable.

“Sometimes it is just a snack or tea at night, only to help complete the day,” she said.

Even tea has become uncertain, she added, saying the family may settle for red tea without milk, or go without it altogether.

Idris said a simple tomato salad made with dakwa (peanut butter) or oil can now cost about SDG7,000 or more, while a kilogramme of sugar has reached about SDG7,000.

“A solution must be found to this situation, because it has become unbearable,” she said. 

“The family is no longer able to manage its needs.”

Fuel shortages return

Khartoum and several other states have also entered a fresh fuel crisis, with stations closing and petrol and diesel becoming scarce amid expectations of further price rises.

A Khartoum resident told Radio Dabanga that the crisis began after reports of an expected increase in the customs dollar and fuel prices. Several stations, he said, had stopped selling fuel.

He alleged that some station owners were keeping fuel in their tanks until new prices were announced.

“The fuel is inside the station, but once it is known that there is an expected increase, some stations close, and after the release of the new pricing, the same fuel stored is sold at the new price,” he said.

He said shortages had affected petrol and diesel across Khartoum, with the expected increase potentially reaching SDG5,000 to SDG6,000 per gallon.

Fuel shortages and long queues, he added, have become almost monthly occurrences, with some crises lasting more than a week.

“The least crisis until it is resolved can take about nine days, and the citizen spends a large part of the month looking for fuel and moving between stations,” he said.

Residents are increasingly forced to choose between waiting for hours at stations and paying inflated black-market prices.

“The citizen may stand 12 hours in line, or buy from the black market at a higher price,” he said.