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10 percent increase in LPG prices
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Posted on Feb 19 2009
Households and businesses will soon be paying more for liquefied petroleum gas after Saipan Industrial Gas Inc. announced a 10-percent hike in the price of their LPG effective March 1.
Officials of another LPG supplier on Saipan, Wushin Corp., could not be reached for comment as of press time yesterday on whether they will also raise their prices soon.
Dionisio Lopez, president of Saipan Industrial Gas, told Saipan Tribune yesterday that by next month, a 90-lb. cylinder of LPG, for example, will be $119 compared to the current price of $108.
He said the current price of LPG in the world market has jumped by 33 percent.
“The recent decreases in the price of LPG have given us all a respite from the rising costs of business operations. However, while we were all expecting another decrease, the current price of LPG in the world market has increased 33 percent per notice received from our supplier,” Saipan Industrial Gas said in a Feb. 16 notice to customers.
LPG is used mainly for cooking and to run water heaters and laundry machines and dryers.
Saipan Industrial Gas said worldwide consumption of gasoline and diesel plummeted because of the global economic recession. There is also a tremendous drop in crude oil refining, resulting in a very big drop in LPG production.
“LPG consumption has dropped very little so that demand is much [higher] than the supply. Prices will go up. In this connection, please be advised that effective March 1, 2009, we are increasing your price by 10 percent,” the company said in its notice.
Saipan Industrial Gas said they can be reached at 322-5105 or 322-6352 for questions.
In January, Saipan customers saw a drop in the prices of LPG. Wushin Corp., for example, slashed its prices by $0.23 per gallon of LPG for both bulk and wholesale customers, after another price slash in November.
