Staff Reporter :
Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (BERC) has re-fixed the price of each 12 kg liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) cylinder.
The BERC announced the new price of LPG at a press conference held at its hearing room at Kawran Bazar in the capital on Sunday.
Now, the consumers will have to pay Tk226 more to buy a 12kg LPG cylinder as the country’s energy regulator (BERC) has raised its price to Tk1,259 from the existing Tk1,033.
In the same ratio, the prices of other quantity containers of LPG will go up while the auto gas will be selling at Tk58.65 instead of the existing rate of Tk55.27 per litre.
Announcing the new price order, chairman of the BERC Abdul Jalil said that of the increased Tk226, the commission has increased Tk59 as an overall cost adjustment while the remaining enhancement in the cost was done because of the increased price of Saudi CP.
“Following our public hearing, we’ve reset some of the components in the local value of LPG considering the demands of the private sector operators,” he told reporters while announcing the new price of the LPG cylinder.
Internationally, the Saudi contract price (CP) witnessed a huge hike as each ton of LPG was sold at $797 in October while it was $665 in September last, he added.
The other members of the BERC were present on the occasion.
In response to the appeal of the private LPG operators, the BERC held a public hearing on September 13.
In the hearing, the private operators raised a number of demands to reconsider the cost in setting the LPG price in the retail market while the consumer right groups were opposing such demands saying that private operators have been shown some costs in an “inflated way”
The BERC chairman said the price of the state-owned LP Gas Company’s LPG will remain unchanged as it has no relation with the global market price.
The new price will be effective from October 10 and from now on the regulatory body will announce the new LPG price on the 7th day of every month in order to make the global market price effective for the local market.
LPG industry insiders said the Saudi CP is normally announced at the end of every month to make it effective for the next month and it takes 7-10 days for a shipment of the fuel to arrive in the country.
Most Bangladeshi private companies import their bulk LPG from the Middle East on the basis of Saudi CP and market it locally.
The BERC for the first time fixed the retail-level LPG price on April 12 after holding a public hearing to comply with a High Court order.
