Demand for cooking gas as price increases
Demand for cooking gas has fallen despite several interventions by the Federal Government to ramp up supply and boost local consumption.
Speaking with a Gas retailer over the weekend, the retailer said that cooking gas demand had fallen due to low income and poor purchasing power of consumers.
We are now experiencing low demand from consumers because inflation has pushed prices of goods and services above what the common man can bear.
Another seller, Gas Man, around the Rinsayo area in Osogbo also said consumers now buy in smaller quantities.
The development comes on the heels of Olatunbosun’s earlier outcry that the price of a 12.5kg cylinder of cooking gas could hit N18,000 by December if the government did not wade into continuous price hikes by middlemen.
A market survey carried out revealed that as of the beginning of October, the price of 20 metric tons at the terminal had moved from N10m to N16m, representing a 66 per cent rise in price within the space of one month.
Depot owners had blamed the sharp increase on depreciation in foreign exchange and increase in price at the international market.
Olatunbosun added that we expect prices to begin to drop starting this week, so prices will no longer reach N18,000 by December as earlier projected.
