12kg LPG price static at Tk 1,455
FE REPORT | Friday, 3 January 2025
The Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (BERC) has kept unchanged the price of a 12kg liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) cylinder at Tk 1,455 for January too.
The new price came into effect on Thursday evening, according to a BERC statement.
The price of such cylinders remains the same for three consecutive months - November 2024, December 2024, and January 2025. Earlier, the price was Tk 1,456 for October 2024 and Tk 1,421 for the month before.
BERC Chairman Md Jalal Ahmed announced the new LPG prices at a press conference at the commission's Karwan Bazar office in the capital on Thursday.
The commission adjusted cooking fuel prices for the domestic market based on the Saudi Aramco contract price for January. It also factored in foreign exchange rate fluctuations and changes in value-added tax (VAT).
The Saudi Aramco contract price of propane and butane is $625 per tonne and $615 per tonne, respectively, for January.
The BERC calculated an average price of $618.50 per tonne by considering a propane-butane mixture at a ratio of 35:65.
It has been setting LPG prices for private operators within the first week of every month since April 2021.
The private sector can sell LPG in cylinders of various sizes - 5.5kg, 12.5kg, 15kg, 16kg, 18kg, 20kg, 22kg, 25kg, 30kg, 35kg, and 45kg - to consumers at proportionally low prices in January, according to the BERC price statement.
The price of LPG supplied through a reticulated system or centralised storage system has been fixed slightly lower at Tk 260.80 per cubic metre, including VAT, for January, compared to Tk 260.90 per cubic metre, including VAT, for December.
Besides, the retail price of autogas, the LPG used in vehicles, has been fixed lower at Tk 66.78 per litre, including VAT, for January, compared to Tk 66.81 per litre, including VAT, for December.
The price of the state-owned LP Gas's LPG, however, remained unchanged at Tk 690 for a 12.5kg cylinder.
Sources said around 27 LPG operators are currently in business, although licences were issued to about 58 companies.
Some 26 operators import about 1.10 million tonnes of LPG, which accounts for around 98 per cent of the country's total demand. There are seven satellite operators.
About 35 million LPG cylinders are in use across the country. The sector deploys around 200 road tankers, 5,000 trucks, and 21 cargo vessels nationwide for transportation.