Market –LPG Cooking gas in the country is steadily rising in price as 13-kg cylinder now retailing at between sh 2,978 and sh 3000.
The new prices started going up last year after government reintroduced the 16 percent Value Added Tax VAT on the product.
“We must remit a 16 percent VAT for every cylinder sold or refilled. It is natural that we will pass the added cost to consumers,” Martin Chomba, the chair of Petroleum Outlets Association of Kenya, announced.
Our spot check from the market has confirmed that the 13-kg cylinder of gas from Total Company is now selling at Sh. 2,995, Rubis K-gas is selling at Sh. 2,950 while the one from Shell/Vivo’s Afrigas is selling at Sh. 2,990.
It was established by the Business Daily that big players in the market are taking advantage of the situation to triple the prices. This is because Kenya’s LPG business is mainly controlled by big players, including Total, Vivo, Rubis, Oil Libya and Africa Gas and Oil (AGOL), which owns Proto gas. The bulk of the cooking gas used in Kenya comes in through the ports of Dar es Salaam and Mombasa but supply and distribution are concentrated among a few well-connected players.
This monopoly has made it possible for the big boys in the sector to make huge backs from unsuspecting and helpless consumers.
Apart from gas prices going up, fuel (Petrol and Diesel) have also been going up per liter.
