“I ordered 200 cylinders for today, but the company supplied only 50. Meanwhile, my customers keep calling one after another. How can I explain the shortage to them?”
Rabiul Islam, an LPG cylinder seller near Mohammadpur bus stand in the capital, said this when he spoke to Prothom Alo at around 10am on Tuesday.
Rabiul said the shortage of LPG cylinders had persisted for several days. Demand had increased further since Monday, he added.
Nahid Islam, owner of Dipu Enterprise in the Shankar area of Dhanmondi, reported a similar shortage. “My daily demand is 70 to 80 cylinders, but today I received only 20. So many people are calling, but I can’t take their orders,” he said.
Prothom Alo visited shops selling LPG cylinders in Adabar, Mohammadpur, Dhanmondi, Farmgate and Karwan Bazar in the capital and spoke to shop owners and employees, who described the same situation. Customers were calling to order cylinders, while others were coming to the shops in person only to leave empty-handed. Some were managing to buy cylinders, but others were going away without any.
Mohammad Hedayetullah, a seller in Farmgate, said he was supplying cylinders to customers who had already placed orders and taking new orders for delivery when fresh supplies arrived.
On 4 October, the Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (BERC) announced a new LPG price for the domestic market, raising the price of a 12kg cylinder by Tk 252 to Tk 1,837.
However, visits to various parts of the capital on Tuesday found that customers were having to pay an additional Tk 400–450 for each 12kg LPG cylinder. Shops were selling the cylinders for Tk 2,200 to Tk 2,250 each.
Bismillah Enterprise in the Tikkapara area of Mohammadpur had one 45kg cylinder available, priced at Tk 6,300. The shop was selling 12kg cylinders for Tk 2,200 and 5kg cylinders, including the cylinder itself, for Tk 1,800.
Sagar Hossain, an employee at the shop, said, “We have orders for 40 cylinders of 12kg each today, but a delivery truck arrived with only 20. So many people are calling that we can’t supply everyone.”
On Monday, the LPG Traders Cooperative Society Limited announced that its members would close their shops nationwide on Thursday and Friday. The announcement came in support of several demands, including an end to the alleged harassment of LPG traders. The traders also warned that they could announce tougher action if their demands were not met.
The announcement has raised concerns among consumers.
On Tuesday morning, Prothom Alo spoke to a customer named Raisul Islam in Dhanmondi. He had come to buy a 12kg cylinder from Dipu Enterprise. Raisul sells tea from a roadside footpath stall in the Shankar area.
He said the gas remaining in his current cylinder would last another two or three days. However, having heard that cylinder sales would be suspended for two days, he had decided to buy one in advance. If he could not get gas, he would have to shut down his stall.