Although natural gas prices on the global market have continued to rise, CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) announced yesterday that it will leave natural gas prices on the local market unchanged for this month.
The decision came as the state-run oil supplier followed the government’s policy to stabilize domestic prices at a time when the local consumer price index has kept rising, breaching the 2-percent threshold set by the central bank, which has raised concerns over growing inflationary pressure.
According to CPC, about 98 percent of energy consumed in Taiwan comes from imports, so it is no surprise that the movement of local natural gas prices is subject to price fluctuations on the international market due to higher import costs.
Photo: Chang Yi-cheng, Taipei Times
To reflect rising import costs, CPC said that domestic natural gas prices should have gone higher, but to alleviate inflationary pressure, the company has decided to leave its prices intact this month.
In December, consumer prices in Taiwan rose 2.62 percent from a year earlier, remaining above the 2-percent inflationary alert level for the fifth consecutive month, according to the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics.
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