State-run refiner CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) yesterday announced no price change for liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) this month, but it said it would raise the price of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to reflect rising energy costs.
Effective today, the price of household LNG is to rise by NT$0.46 per cubic meter, following an increase of NT$0.45 per cubic meter last month, CPC said in a statement.
Under CPC’s pricing mechanism, household LPG prices should have gone up by NT$1.30 per kilogram to fully reflect increased costs, the refiner said, but in view of a higher global price of LPG driven by surging demand for the fuel in Japan following the earthquake last month, CPC will absorb the cost increase to help stabilize consumer prices.
As a result, the price of household LPG remains NT$27.36 per kilogram and the price of LPG used in cars will be between NT$20.20 and NT$28.95 for the various varieties of the fuel.
The refiner said the price of household LNG should have gone up by 18.85 percent, but it would only raise the price by 2.99 percent by partly absorbing the cost increase in line with the government’s efforts to contain inflation.
The nation consumes about 14 billion cubic meters of LNG a year. An average consumption of 30 cubic meters per month would mean an additional cost of NT$13.80 a household, CPC said.
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