LPG consumption down 10%: Butagasco

CAIRO – 2 August 2017: Consumption of Liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) cylinders declined 10 percent in July, head of state-owned Egyptian Company for Gas Transferring and Deliverance (Butagasco) Hussein Fathy said Wednesday.

The rate of consuming LPG reached 180,000 cylinders per day in July, down from 200,000 cylinders in June before their price hike, Fathy told Egypt Today.

Fathy said the cut in LPG consumption is deemed positive as it reduces the imports bill, noting that the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC) imports 50 percent of LPG domestic needs.

There are 40 private sector companies working in packing LPG cylinders, representing 55 percent of the market.

The government increased in late June the fuel prices, where the price of 80-octane gasoline soared from LE 1.60 ($0.08) to LE 3.65 ($0.20) per liter, while 92-octane increased from LE 3.50 ($0.19) to LE 5.00 ($0.28) per liter.

Prices of LPG cylinders were also increased from LE 15 per cylinder to LE 30, representing 100 percent hike.