Marine Transport Department, MTD a unit under Pipelines and Products Marketing Company, PPMC ineffectiveness in handling batting of Liquefied Petroleum Gas, LPG vessels in Lagos is said to have triggered price instability of the product.
Executive Secretary of Nigeria Association of Liquefied Petroleum Gas Marketers, NALPGAM, Mr. Bassey Essien alleged that MTD under PPMC has deliberately connived with a private company (ALGASCO) that owns a jetty to divert LPG vessels, thereby creating monopoly and price instability of the product.
Speaking with newsmen in Lagos, NALPGAM ES said ALGASCO monopoly in the LPG market has made price of the product increased from N2.4 million per 20 metric tonnes truck to N3.5 million for the same quantity in less than one week.
He explained that the price instability has also affected the price of 12.5 kg cylinder of LPG which has increased from N2, 500 to as high as N3, 500 to N4, 000.
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Essien noted that government efforts to supply major terminals with LPG product in Lagos is currently been eroded by PPMC inability to manage vessels batting schedule.
“Major terminals are been starved of product but if products are available to all the terminals, the issue of price instability will not exist.
“Now that only one terminal receives product, they will be one that will determine the market price. When they see that other terminal has product, they will quickly crash the price and make it difficult for others to sell and make profit.
“So this is not an issue of price increase, it is price instability because if it is price increase, we should why it is going up and if is coming down, we should know why it is coming down.
“Some time last year same thing happened and it was selling for N4.7 million and they perceived that other terminals were selling, the price crashed to N2.9 million.
He stressed that PPMC should create a schedule that will allow LPG vessels from bonny to bath twice in a month noting that the inability of vessels to bath is creating supply gap.
