Bangladesh raises LPG price by Tk 1.48 a kg for November

Bangladesh has raised the price of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), used for cooking and powering vehicles, by Tk 1.48 per kilogram for November amid a four-month trend of rising prices.

The price of LPG has been adjusted to Tk 115.09 per kilogram, up from Tk 113.61 in October, Md Nurul Amin, chairman of Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission, said in a media briefing at his office on Thursday.

This means a 12 kg LPG cylinder, most commonly used in households, will cost consumers Tk 1,281, up by Tk 18.

The new price will be effective from Thursday evening, according to the energy regulator.

The price of a 12 kg cylinder was Tk 999 in July, then it increased to Tk 1,140 in August, Tk 1,284 in September, and finally reached Tk 1,363 in October with a Tk 79 rise.

Last month, Saudi Aramco's CP price for a tonne of propane and butane was set at $609.75, and rose to $616.50 in November, the BERC said.

Accordingly, the price of reticulated LPG, an advanced system to supply LPG to households compared to the conventional cylinder supply, has been fixed at Tk 111.26 per kg, up from Tk 109.89 in October.

Meanwhile, the price of autogas at the consumer level has been fixed at Tk 63.36 for November, up from Tk 62.54.

Since April 2021, the BERC has been determining the domestic LPG price based on the Saudi cargo price (CP) of LPG. However, consumers currently pay at least Tk 200 more for LPG in the market.

AHM Shafiquzzaman, the director general of the Directorate of National Consumer Rights Protection, pointed out that overpricing by manufacturers sometimes leads to increased market prices.

Therefore, BERC, as the regulatory authority, should take appropriate action, he said.

The BERC chairman said that they have issued show-cause notices to several companies regarding the price increase, and four of these companies have already responded to the notices.