Senior Indonesian minister Luhut Pandjaitan said prices of 90-octane gasoline and subsidized liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) in 3-kg canisters may be increased to reflect higher global energy prices, reported Reuters with reference to news sites Detik and Kompas.
The reports come as state energy firm Pertamina lifted price of 92-octane gasoline Pertamax by 39% to around 12,500 rupiah (USD0.8702) per liter, after a jump in crude oil prices due to the war in Ukraine.
Luhut said after the increase in Pertamax, the price of Pertamina's 90-octane gasoline known as Pertalite could be raised, followed by LPG, the reports said.
"We will do this gradually. The 3-kg gas price hasn't been increased since 2007. I think that isn't fair," he added.
Luhut was cited as saying the government might look at July through to September for the increase in prices of the fuels.
A spokesperson for Luhut confirmed that the minister had made the comments. When asked about how much prices might increase he said it would depend on further developments.
Indonesia's March inflation rate hit a two-year high, data showed on Friday, as economists warned prices would creep up further due to higher gasoline prices and value-added tax.
An energy think-tank executive said lifting prices was a rational decision, but it should be after Islamic holidays at the end of the upcoming fasting month given the hike in Pertamax.
As MRC informed previously, the fire, which broke out at one of Pertamina’s fuel storage tanks in the Cilacap refinery and petrochemical complex on 13 November 2021, did not affect operations at any other plants at the same complex. In fact, all other production lines were operating normally during the incident. The fire was completely extinguished after about 12 hours.
Ethylene and propylene are the main feedstocks for the production of polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP), respectively.
According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 2,487,450 tonnes in 2021, up by 13% year on year. Shipments of all grades of ethylene polymers increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market totalled 1,494.280 tonnes, up by 21% year on year. Deliveries of homopolymer PP and PP block copolymers increased, whreas.shipments of PP random copolymers decreased significantly.
MRC