Gasoline prices continued to hit record highs, as state-run CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) and rival Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化) announced they were raising wholesale gasoline and diesel prices by NT$0.4 per liter.
CPC's new rates went into effect today, while Formosa's were effective as of 2am.
Oil prices have risen rapidly in the past month and have resulted in continuing hikes in domestic gasoline prices.
CPC said its price adjustment was in line with the policy of raising prices in Taiwan by 80 percent of the price fluctuation of West Texas Intermediate crude oil traded on the New York Mercantile Exchange, which was up 2.17 percent over the past week.
Light, sweet crude for delivery next month rose US$0.01 to US$74.16 a barrel in Asian electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange and mid-afternoon in Singapore on reports that supply from US operating refineries had recovered.
inflation
The rise in fuel prices came amid news that local dairy producers would raise the price of fresh milk by 15 percent next month, prompting market speculation that the nation's inflation could accelerate in the second half of this year.
The inflation benchmark rose 0.10 percent last month from a year earlier largely due to increases in fuel and medicine prices, the Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) said on July 5. For the first half of this year, the consumer price index (CPI) was up 0.61 percent year-on-year, the statistics bureau said.
On May 24, DGBAS forecast the CPI would rise to 1.9 percent in the third quarter and 2 percent in the final three months of of this year.
The all-time high gasoline prices have caused complaints among consumers, especially taxi drivers.
opposition
The Consumers' Foundation (消基會) has urged the government to suspend the pricing mechanism, but Minister of Economic Affairs Steve Chen (陳瑞隆) insisted that the flotation measure should continue as the oil price range was still normal.
Adjusting domestic prices along with international oil prices can also help raise environmental awareness, Chen said.
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