LPG hits Rs550/kg as price spiral deepens

Winter gas crisis looms, threatening higher household bills, transport and food prices

KARACHI:

Karachi consumers are being squeezed by another sharp surge in LPG prices, with the per-kilogram rate jumping Rs50 in just a day to Rs550, nearly double the official price, as disrupted Iranian supplies fuel a deepening shortage and leave households with little choice but to pay through the nose for cooking gas.

Market sources said Iranian LPG supplies were failing to reach Karachi's markets, creating a shortage that local marketing companies were allegedly exploiting to push up prices at their discretion.

They attributed the disruption to difficulties in LPG imports from Iran, warning that the resulting supply gap was driving consumers towards increasingly expensive local supplies.

Shopkeepers said marketing companies were supplying LPG at inflated rates, severely affecting their businesses. The latest price surge has led to a decline of up to 50 per cent in sales, they added.

Consumers, meanwhile, said the absence of piped natural gas in their homes had made purchasing expensive LPG unavoidable. The escalating cost of cooking gas was putting additional pressure on household budgets and also threatening to push up transport fares, tandoor prices and bakery products.

Market sources warned that the situation could deteriorate further if Iranian supplies failed to return to normal and the government did not strengthen its oversight of LPG prices.

With winter approaching, Karachi faces the prospect of a worsening gas shortage and another round of price increases.