The Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (BERC) on Thursday slashed the price of liquefied petroleum gas by 3.39 per cent for an LPG cylinder for May sales of the cooking fuel.
The country's private operators will have to retail a 12kg cylinder at Tk 1,393, down by Tk 49 from the April price of Tk 1,442 for the same.
BERC chairman Md Nurul Amin announced to the media the new prices of LPG at a press briefing in his office, which took effect from 6:00 pm of the day.
The commission adjusted the cooking fuel prices for the domestic market considering the Saudi Aramco's contract price (CP) for May 2024 as the benchmark.
It also considered fluctuations in foreign-exchange rates and changes in the value-added tax (VAT).
Aramco's CP price of propane and butane is $580 and $585 per tonne each for May trading.
The BERC considered the 35:65 ratio of propane-butane mixture with an eye to getting the average price at $583.25 per tonne.
It has been fixing the LPG prices for private operators in the first week of every month since April 2021.
The private sector will be able to sell LPG through different sizes of cylinders like 5.5kg, 12.5kg, 15kg, 16kg, 18kg, 20kg, 22kg, 25kg, 30kg, 35kg and 45kg to consumers at proportionately higher prices in May, according to the BERC announcement.
The price of LPG to be supplied through a reticulated system, or centralised storage system, will be Tk 249.50 per cubic metre, including VAT, for May.
The retail price of autogas, the LPG being used in vehicles, was also slashed to Tk 63.92 per litre, including VAT, for May from Tk 66.21 of April.
The price of the state-owned LP Gas's LPG, however, remained unchanged at Tk 591 per 12.5kg cylinder.
According to sources, some 27 LPG operators are currently doing business against 58 licensees to do the trade.
Some 26 operators import around 1.10-million tonnes of LPG from the international market, which is around 98 per cent of the total domestic demand for LPG.
On the other hand, seven are satellite operators.
Some 35-million LPG cylinders are being used in the LPG business across the country.
An estimated 200 road tankers, 5,000 trucks and 21 cargoes are involved in the business.
azizjst@yahoo.com