Staggered LPG price hike set

MANILA, Philippines — Republic Gas Corp. (Regasco) has begun implementing a staggered P18-per-kilogram price increase for its liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) products, rendering the excise tax suspension futile as global crude prices remain elevated.

The LPG firm hiked the price of its products by P10 per kilo yesterday. It will be followed by a P5 per kilo increase on Oct. 10 and P3 per kilo on Oct. 17.

The total hikes will make a standard 11-kilogram cylinder about P198 more expensive.

Regasco president Arnel Ty said the first phase of the increase would raise the price of 11-kilogram LPG tanks to about P1,300 each.

The selling price will still depend on the retailer’s location. Ty said LPG prices in Mindanao are P150 higher compared to Luzon due to transportation costs.

LPG prices have been driven up by both a rise in contract and freight costs in September.

“Saudi Aramco announced that the (contract) price of LPG rose by more than $65 per metric ton, which is equivalent to P5 per kilo in our local prices,” Ty told radio dzBB on Friday.

“Aside from that, the spike in Dubai crude oil prices to $113 per barrel from $90 in the previous month caused shipping costs, which we also call the premium, to rise by P13 per kilo. So, the total increase for October is P18 per kilo,” he added.

Developments in global markets completely offset the P3-per-kilo cut in LPG prices that took effect at the end of September as a result of the excise tax suspension ordered by President Marcos.

Other LPG firms like Solane and Petron Gasul have not yet announced whether they will stagger prices as well.

Supply is also an issue as LPG firms’ main source of stocks – China – suspended fuel exports in October to protect its domestic inventory.

Ty said Regasco currently holds 20 days’ worth of supply, well above the seven-day minimum requirement but far from the 45 days the Department of Energy aspires to.

He said alternatives are available, but they come with literal costs.

“We can get from Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia, but their prices are more expensive,” Ty said.

Reuters reported that China did not give its major refiners the green light to export their products other than to Hong Kong and Macau during its weeklong public holidays.

It is unclear whether Beijing will allow fuel exports again after the holidays end on Oct. 7.

Ty hopes that the United States and Iran will restart negotiations after the US goes into the polls for its midterm elections on Nov. 3.

The midterm elections will only determine which party controls the US Congress for the next two years. Polls show Trump’s Republican Party is badly losing to opposition Democrats as high gas prices brought about by the war affect Americans’ cost of living.