Middle East conflict causes diesel prices to soar, Brazil's trucking union considers nationwide strike

A leader of the Brazilian truck drivers’ union said on Tuesday that the union is calling for a strike as early as this week due to recent spikes in diesel prices caused by the Middle East conflict.

If the truck drivers’ strike spreads, it could have serious consequences for Brazil, which heavily relies on truck drivers to transport goods nationwide and to ports.

In 2018, a large-scale truck drivers’ strike paralyzed transportation across Brazil for about 10 days, with multiple roadblocks set up. As diesel prices soared, calls for a strike grew louder, but there is currently no clear strike date, and no indication of how many will participate.

“This is a fight for survival,” said Wallace Landim, president of the Brazilian Truck Drivers’ Union Abrava, in an interview, adding that the strike could start this week.

Data released Tuesday by payment company ValeCard shows that since the Iran conflict erupted on February 28 and pushed up global oil prices, the average price of Brazil’s best-selling S-10 diesel has increased by about 19%.

This is not the first time since 2018 that truck drivers have attempted a large-scale strike, but Landim said past strikes were politically motivated, and now truck drivers are feeling “the same pain as in 2018.”

To mitigate the impact of rising global oil prices on consumers, President Lula’s government canceled diesel taxes last week, and Brazil’s oil regulatory agency launched an effort to crack down on price gouging. However, it remains unclear whether these measures will be enough to prevent truck drivers from shutting down.

“Truck drivers are already overwhelmed,” said Carlos Alberto, a director at the Transport Workers Union CNTTL, in a statement.