Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (BERC) raised retail prices of LPG (liquefied petroleum gas) for private operators by around 11.44 per cent for trading in domestic market in August.
The retail price of a 12kg LPG to be provided by private operators has been adjusted higher to Tk 993 for August trading compared to Tk 891 for July, BERC Chairman Md Abdul Jalil said, while announcing the new tariff virtually Thursday.
The prices of LPG to be supplied by state-run Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) kept unchanged at Tk 591 per 12.5 kg LPG.
Retail price of auto gas, the LPG used in vehicles, for August has been adjusted higher by around 10.77 per cent to Tk 48.71 per litre from 44 per litre for July.
The new prices will be effective from August 01, 2021, said the BERC chairman.
The commission adjusted higher the LPG prices considering the Saudi Aramco contract price of July 2021 as the benchmark for fixing LPG prices in the domestic market. It also considered fluctuations of foreign currency and change in the value added tax (VAT) amount to fix the domestic LPG prices.
The Saudi Aramco CP prices for propane and butane were US$620 per tonne each in July.
The BERC has considered the propane and butane mixture at the ratio of 35:65 to get the average price at $620 per tonne.
Private sector will be able to sell LPG through different sizes of cylinders like 5.5 kg, 12.5kg, 15kg, 16kg, 18kg, 20kg, 22kg, 25kg, 30kg, 35 kg, and 45 kg to consumers.
Price for LPG to be supplied through reticulated system, or centralised storage system also was raised by 11.80 per cent to Tk 80.43 per kg including VAT for August trading from Tk 71.94 per kg of July.
Sources said, the BERC fixed for the first time the retail prices of LPG for domestic market on April 12 after holding public hearing on January 14 in line with a court instruction.
Since then the commission has been fixing the LPG prices in domestic every month.
Last month, the BERC raised the domestic LPG prices by around 5.82 per cent for July trading, as the Saudi Aramco CP in June increased.
Currently 27 LPG operators are doing businesses although some 58 got received licences to carry out the business.
Some 20 operators import around 1.10 million tonne of LPG from international market, which is around 98 per cent of the country’s total requirement of LPG, while seven are satellite operators.
There are some 20 LPG terminals across the country and the reserve capacity has around 100,000 tonnes in total.
Some 35 million LPG cylinders are being used in the LPG business in the country.
Some 200 road tankers, 5,000 trucks and 21 cargoes are involved with the LPG business in Bangladesh.
