LPG prices go down; sugar prices rise

Consumers may have gotten some relief with a little rollback in prices of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) Friday, but they were hit with another whammy as prices of sugar went up anew. A report on dzBB radio said the LPG Marketers’ Association (LPGMA) slashed the prices of their products by 50 centavos per kilo or P5.50 per 11-kg tank, effective 12:01 a.m. Friday. The LPGMA said this would bring down the suggested retail price of LPG tanks from P667 to P660. Earlier this month, the LPGMA cut the prices of their products by P1/kilo due to lower world contract prices, LPGMA party-list Rep. Arnel Ty had said. However, prices of sugar in markets also went up to as high as P72 per kilo on Friday, according to a report by dzBB’s Denver Trinidad. The report said brown sugar sold for P70/kilo, while refined sugar sold for P72/kilo. It quoted vendors at the Libertad Public Market as saying the adjustment was just a break-even price. Earlier this week, the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) said it will not “control" the price of sugar in some retail stores even though consumers are worried about further possible price hikes. “Price control is counterproductive... It should be imposed only during times of calamities, emergency situations, or if there is price or supply manipulation," SRA administrator Ma. Regina Martin said last Thursday. He said the price of sugar increased by P2 per kilo in just two weeks. Sugar is now sold at P70 a kilo by small retailers and between P64 and P68 per kilo in supermarkets and wet markets, respectively. — LBG, GMA News