The Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (BERC) has increased the retail prices of LPG (liquefied petroleum gas) by around 21.87 per cent for trading in domestic market in October.
The hike will only heighten the sufferings of the consumers who are already hit hard by the soaring prices of most essentials.
The retail price of a 12-kg LPG cylinder - to be provided by private operators - has been adjusted higher to Tk 1,259 for October trading, compared to Tk 1,033 for September, BERC Chairman Md Abdul Jalil said, while announcing the new tariff virtually on Sunday.
The new prices are effective from October 10, he added.
The commission considered the Saudi Aramco contract price (CP) of October 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.
Private sector operators will sell LPG to consumers in different sizes of cylinders - 5.5kg, 12.5kg, 15kg, 16kg, 18kg, 20kg, 22kg, 25kg, 30kg, 35kg, and 45kg.
Price for LPG - to be supplied through reticulated system or centralised storage system - will be Tk 101.6894 per kg including VAT.
Retail price of auto gas - the LPG used in vehicles - has also been adjusted higher to Tk 58.68 per litre for October.
The BERC has decided to fix the LPG prices for private operators within first week of every month.
The Saudi Aramco CP price for propane was US$800 per tonne and $795 for butane in October.
The BERC has considered propane and butane mixture at the ratio of 35:65 to get the average price at $796.75 per tonne.
The regulator this time fixed the LPG prices taking into cognizance the proceedings of the hearing held on September 13. The hearing was arranged following appeals from the private sector operators.
The operators - including LPG cylinder manufacturers, bottling plant owners, importers, and traders - had demanded an addition of Tk 224 for a 12-kg cylinder as cost of the operators while fixing new retail prices of LPG by the BERC.
Sources said the regulator first fixed the retail prices of LPG for domestic market on April 12 after holding a public hearing on January 14 in line with a court instruction.
Since then the commission has been fixing the LPG prices every month.
Currently 27 LPG operators are doing LPG business, although some 58 got licences.
Some 20 operators import around 1.10 million tonnes 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 is around 100,000 tonnes in total.
Some 35 million 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 business.
Azizjst@yahoo.com