Price of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) has declined by a big margin of Tk 20.37 per kg – to Tk 98.17 from the previous price of Tk 118.54 – for the month of April.

Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (BERC) announced the new price, saying that a 12kg LPG cylinder’s price has been cut substantially by Tk 244. A retail consumer will get it at Tk 1178 instead of Tk 1,422 (including VAT).

Prices of other sizes of LPG cylinders – from 5.5kg to 45kg – will go down rationally, said Md Nurul Amin, the newly appointed chairman of BERC, during his maiden press briefing today at the BERC office in Dhaka.

The new prices will be effective from 6 pm today (April 2, 2023).

However, on the sidelines of the same press briefing, MD Selim Khan, president of Bangladesh LP Gas Traders Cooperative Limited – a representative body of dealers and distributors in the business – complained that though the BERC set the new price, the LPG Operators Association of Bangladesh (LOAB) has verbally set the price at operators’ factory gates (wholesale points) price at Tk 1,200 for a 12kg LPG cylinder.

“So, a retail trader has to add at least Tk 120 to sell the 12 kg cylinder of gas to accommodate his other costs including transportation and staff costs,” he added.         

The new BERC chairman, however, said the commission is planning to sit with all stakeholders to address the anomalies in the price fixation.

He also said, BERC will ask the district administration and law enforcement agencies to check discrepancies in the market and curb price manipulation.   

BERC officials said the LPG price witnessed a big fall in the local market due to a decline in the prices of Saudi CP (contract price).

Read more: LPG gets costlier by Tk 62 per 12-kg container

Last month, as per the Saudi CP, the LPG price was $733 per metric ton while the current month’s CP was set at $548.5 per MT, he added.

Bangladeshi LPG operators normally import their products from the Middle-East market on the basis of Saudi CP.

As per the BERC decision, the price of “auto gas” (LPG used for motor vehicles) also decreased to Tk 54.90 per litre (including VAT) from the previous Tk 66.22 per litre, down by Tk 11.32 per litre.

The price of LPG, marketed by state-owned LP Gas Company, will remain the same as it is locally produced with a market share of less than 5 percent.

LPG witnessed the highest price at Tk 1,498 (per 12kg cylinder) in the local market in February this year following the start of the Russia-Ukraine war in February last year.