LPG dealers cut prices by P2/kg

MANILA, Philippines–Households can expect some relief with a P2 per kilo rollback in liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) prices effective Tuesday.

The LPG Marketers Association party-list group announced Monday its members—who are independent refillers—would reduce cooking gas prices on the entry of the new year and this may be followed by more rollbacks in the coming weeks.

“We see softer LPG prices in the weeks ahead. Hopefully, this will just be the first of our price cutbacks for 2013,” said the LPG-MA in a statement.

With the P2/kg reduction, an 11-kg cylinder would cost P22 less.

The LPG-MA attributed the rollback to the drop in the international contract price of LPG.

LPG-MA Rep. Arnel Ty, in the same statement, noted that the international contract price for LPG had been declining due to lower demand from the United States and Europe.

The strengthening Philippine peso also helped, as it became cheaper for Filipino importers to buy LPG in dollars, Ty said.

The companies that belong to the LPGMA include Nation Gas, Pinnacle Gas, M-Gas, Island Gas, Regasco Gas, Cat Gas and Omni-Gas.

Ty meanwhile pushed for the creation of a cylinder exchange and rehabilitation program so that defective and substandard cylinders, which could cause fires, could be taken off the market.

He said he hoped the bill he filed seeking to put such a program in place would move forward in the House of Representatives.

The bill also seeks to impose minimum fair standards of business conduct for all members of the LPG industry.