State-run CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) said it would raise its prices for gasoline and diesel by NT$2.8 and NT$3.1 per liter respectively on June 1 at the earliest, as its losses could rise to NT$45 billion (US$1.48 billion) prior to June 1.
“CPC is facing severe losses and hopes to adjust its fuel prices as early as possible,” CPC chairman Pan Wenent (潘文炎) told reporters yesterday, adding that the company was losing NT$330 million per day.
“Even if CPC raised its fuel prices on June 1, losses would still be as much as NT$30 billion at the end of this year,” Pan said.
CPC rival Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化) raised its gasoline and diesel prices by NT$2.8 and NT$3.1 per liter respectively on March 29 to reflect soaring international crude oil prices.
Formosa’s price hikes have compelled many of its customers to switch to CPC’s, as the state-run company has kept its prices stable since December in accordance with the Cabinet’s attempt to stabilize domestic consumer prices.
Meanwhile, state-run Taiwan Power Co (Taipower, 台電) said yesterday the company expected to raise its electricity prices by 30 percent, or about NT$0.6 per kilowatt-hour. No timeframe has been announced.
“Taipower would have to raise its electricity prices by 48 percent to break even this year. However, I have called for an increase of 30 percent to avoid losses growing to the equivalent of the company’s registered capital at the end of this year,” Taipower chairman Edward Chen (陳貴明) told reporters yesterday.
Taipower’s losses could reach NT$110 billion by the end of this year if both CPC and Taipower did not change their prices. Conversely, if CPC raised its fuel prices while Taipower maintained its price for electricity, its losses would soar to NT$130 billion at the end of this year, Chen said.
Government officials and analysts were invited to participate in the public hearing at the legislature’s Economics Committee yesterday to share their views on future fuel and utility price rises and subsidy policies for low and medium-income households.
Ho Mei-yueh (何美玥), chairwoman of the Cabinet’s Council for Economic Planning and Development, said recommended that fuel prices be raised first, followed by electricity.
Moreover, households that use less than the average 330 kilowatt-hours of electricity per month should face smaller price increases, she said.
Liang Chi-yuan (梁啟源), a research fellow at the Institute of Economics at Academia Sinica, said yesterday that raises in the price of liquefied petroleum gas for household consumption and liquefied natural gas should be lower than average to help low and medium-income households.
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