The price of a 15-kg cylinder of gas remained at 93.5 yuan (US$11.4) on average in the past few weeks in Guangdong, sources with the provincial commodity price monitoring center said, rejecting rumors about possible price increases due to a shortage in gas supply.

The center attributed the likelihood of gas prices remaining stable to the lack of fluctuation in liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) prices internationally, as well as the increase of Chinese imports of LPG and the implementation of price control measures.

Since October last year, the gas prices in Guangdong have risen abruptly on the back of price fluctuations in the international market. In the space a week, a 15-kg cylinder of gas was sold first at 70.2 yuan October 4 and then at 85.3 yuan per cylinder October 11, an increase of 21.5 percent. On October 20, gas was being sold at 94.4 yuan per cylinder, forcing the provincial price regulator to enforce measures to control the gas price within a ceiling of 95 yuan.

The wholesale prices of imported LPG in Guangdong generally stand between 6,050 to 6,200 yuan per ton, around 450 to 600 yuan cheaper than the provinces in East China. But the wholesale prices of the LPG produced by domestic enterprises were the highest among the provinces, around 5,870 to 6,050 yuan per ton.

(Shenzhen Daily January 5, 2006)