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Bangladesh slashed the retail price of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) for October by 2.83 per cent in line with the downtrend of fuel prices on the international market.
Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (BERC) Sunday decreased the prices of cooking gas provided by private operators.
The price of 12-kg cooking fuel is fixed at Tk 1,200 for October trading compared to Tk 1,235 for September.
BERC Chairman Abdul Jalil announced the new LPG price virtually Sunday afternoon.
Although the price in the international market fell by around 10 per cent, the BERC slashed the price only by 2.83 per cent due to the depreciation of the local currency, the taka, against the US dollar, said Mr Jalil.
The commission has considered a letter of credit (L/C) settlement price at Tk 106.64 per US dollar to calculate the import cost of the fuel, he said.
"Had the US dollar rate been lower, the BERC could cut the domestic LPF prices drastically," he said.
Responding to an allegation over charging higher prices by the private companies for the LPG, the BERC chairman sought written complaints from the consumers to look into the issue.
The commission fixed the LPG prices in proportion to the Saudi Aramco contract price (CP) of October 2022 as the benchmark for fixing LPG prices for the domestic market.
It also considered fluctuations in foreign currency and changes in the value-added tax (VAT) amount to fix the month's LPG prices.
The Saudi Aramco CP price of propane is US$590 per tonne and butane $560 per tonne for October trading.
The BERC has considered propane-butane mixture at the ratio of 35:65 to get the average price of $570.50 per tonne.
The Saudi Aramco CP price of propane was US$650 per tonne and butane $630 per tonne for September trading.
The BERC fixes the LPG prices for private operators within the first week of every month, in accordance with market-based pricing of the widely used fuel.
"The new prices will have immediate effect from October 2, 2022," said the BERC's chairman.
The private sector now can sell LPG through different sizes of cylinders like 5.5 kg, 12.5kg, 15kg, 16kg, 18kg, 20kg, 22kg, 25kg, 30kg, 35 kg, and 45kg to consumers at proportionately higher prices in October, he said.
The price for LPG to be supplied through a reticulated system, or centralised storage system, will be Tk 96.78 per kg, inclusive of VAT, for October.
The retail price of autogas -- the LPG used in vehicles -- for September was also slashed to Tk 55.92 per litre including VAT from September’s Tk 57.55 per litre including VAT.
The price of state-owned LP Gas's LPG has been kept unchanged at Tk 591 for 12.5 kg LPG.
Currently, 27 LPG operators are doing business although some 58 received licences to do the business. Some 20 operators import around 1.10 million tonnes of LPG from the 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.
A total of 200 road tankers, 5,000 trucks and 21 cargoes are involved with the LPG business across the country.