Cooking gas price to increase by P2 per kilo – group

The price of liquefied petroleum gas will increase by P2 per kilo, starting Wednesday, because of higher contract prices abroad, the LPG Marketers Association said Tuesday. There was $55 per metric ton increase in contract price of LPG in the international market from $597 per MT last month, LPGMA president Arnel Ty said, explaining the need for retailers to raise the domestic price of LPG as cooking gas. The equivalent increase should have been P2.70 per kilo in the retail price of LPG, Ty said, but that the association decided that P2 would be enough. "The wholesaler passed [the price increase] to us on one time basis, so we will implement the price hike one time also," he said. The LPGMA expects LPG prices to go higher for the rest of the year. "During 'ber' months, LPG prices are normally high," according to Ty. Last month, the price of LPG dropped by P2 per kilo. LPGMA members – wholesalers, re-fillers, and retailers – control a third of the Luzon market. Its members include Omni Gas, Pinnacle Gas, Island Gas, Cat Gas and Nation Gas. —VS, GMANews.TV