LPG supplier to hike prices

Beginning Monday next week, consumers will have to spend more for their liquefied petroleum gas, amid plans by a major LPG retailer to increase prices by up to $5.50 per cylinder.

DL Corp. said rising global demand during the winter season in the United States and Europe jacked up the prices of LPG, including those of their supplier on Guam, South Pacific Petroleum Corp.

DL representative Joe Digno said the company’s local retail price has to be adjusted by Monday after new stock shipment arrives late this week to cover the increased cost of LPG. He said the Guam supplier increased LPG price by about 27 cents a gallon.

“If we absorb the cost of the price increase, our company will be losing,” Digno said. DL Corp. retails LPG distributed by its business partner, Wushin Corp.

Although Digno said the price adjustment has yet to be finalized, he said the plan might increase the price of 90-lb LPG to $76.50—a $5.50 jump over the current local retail price of $71.

He said the price of 20-lb LPG, which is commonly used in homes, might increase from the current $19 to $21-plus—an adjustment of more than $2 per cylinder. Price adjustment for 50-lb LPG is being mulled at about $3 per cylinder, disclosed Digno, who said the product might be retailed at $44 beginning Monday, higher than the present $41 per cylinder.

Digno said the companies were absorbing increased costs of shipment in the past months. The supplier’s increased prices, however, were so high this time that they have no other option than to implement a local price adjustment, he added.

Digno explained that the demand for LPG normally increases during the winter season, saying that heaters in the United States and Europe rely on LPG.

Meanwhile, Saipan Industrial Gas Inc., another company that distributes and retails LPG, said it has no plans to adjust prices this month. The company’s operations manager, Noli Constante, said that the company already adjusted prices sometime in November.

“You just can’t adjust the price abruptly for the customer,” Constante said.

Last month, Saipan Industrial Gas increased 20-lb LPG from $18 to $20, while the price of 90-lb LPG went up from $69 to $72—an adjustment of up to $3 per cylinder.

Saipan Industrial Gas’ retailer, C-Gas, also sells the products at the same retail prices of Saipan Industrial, Constante said.