Govt cuts jet fuel price by over 23pc

The government has reduced the price of A-1 jet fuel by up to 23.80 per cent -- much to the expectation of airliners.
But there's no move yet to readjust the rates of other petroleum fuels with rock-bottom oil prices, sources said.
A senior official concerned told the FE that the Energy and Mineral Resources Division (EMRD) under the ministry of power, energy and mineral resources (MPEMR) cut the price of the aviation fuel by an executive order in line with the plummeting oil prices on the international market.
It has reduced the A-1 jet fuel price by 23.53 per cent to 65 US cents per litre for international flights leaving from the country's main airport -- Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport (HSIA) in Dhaka -- and by 23.80 per cent to US 64 cents per litre for flights from Shah Amanat (SAIA) International Airport in Chittagong.
Under the price readjustments, the EMRD has also lowered the aviation fuel price by 11.90 per cent to Tk 74 per litre (85 US cents) for the domestic flights that take off from the HSIA and by 12.04 per cent to Tk 73 per litre from the SAIA in the port city.
The new pricing of the plane fuel has been effective since February 13, 2015, Chairman of Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) A M Badrudduja told the FE Tuesday.
The country imports around 350,000 metric tonnes of A-1 jet fuel every year from two suppliers -- Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) and Petco Trading Labuan Company Ltd, the trading arm of Malaysia's Petronas.
For the January-June period of 2015, the BPC has inked deals to import 90,000 tonnes of this grade of jet fuel from KPC and 70,000mt from Petco.
The fuel will be imported at a $5.50 per-barrel premium to Mean of Platts Arab Gulf assessments for jet fuel.
Airliners have started reducing the prices of air tickets to pass on the benefit of lower fuel prices to their customers.
"We have already reduced plane fair for domestic flights in line with the price cuts and for Dhaka-Chittagong sector by Tk 500, or 11.11 per cent, to Tk 4,000," Chief Adviser of Regent Airways Sam Isaac told the FE Tuesday.
For international flights, the plane fair travel on the Dhaka-Singapore route of the Regent has been reduced to Tk 37,000 from the previous rate of Tk 39,000, for Dhaka-Kuala Lumpur to Tk 25,000 from previous Tk 27,000.
Ticket for the Dhaka-Bangkok trip now costs Tk 23,000, down from Tk 23,000, and for Dhaka-Kathmandu to Tk 10,800 from Tk 11,800, Mr Isaac said.
"It is good to see that the government has reduced the jet-fuel prices," he said.
He thinks the cuts should have been extensive further.
Brent crude, the benchmark in oil prices on the international market, halved to US$60 per barrel recently from the high of $120 per barrel, he pointed out.
Biman Bangladesh Airlines Ltd will reduce the airfare after observing the price drops in other airlines, said a senior Biman official.
When contacted, a senior MPEMR official said the government has no immediate plans to lower the prices of other petroleum fuels on the domestic market.
Association of Travel Agents of Bangladesh (ATAB) President SN Manzur Murshed (Mahbub) has welcomed the price cuts on jet fuel.
"We are expecting that all airliners operating domestically and internationally from the country will reduce plane fares in line with the price falls," he said.
Consumers would also be happy to travel at cheaper plane fare, said Mr Mahbub.
    mazizur.rahman@outlook.com