Economists believe this reduction in prices is on back of the slide in global crude oil prices since tensions in West Asia have eased and this will offer a big relief to hotels, restaurants and other commercial users. Suraj Mehta, Chief Strategy Officer at Hindusthan National Glass & Industries Limited told Timesnownews.com, “the cut in commercial LPG prices is a welcome and much needed relief for energy intensive industries like glass. Over the past few months we have had to absorb high fuel costs and uncertain supply on account of the West Asia crisis, and that has weighed heavily on our operations and our cost structure. This correction should help our operating economics and take some pressure off margins, though it only partly makes up for how sharply energy costs rose through the crisis. Given how steep those earlier increases were, we see this as the start of prices settling down rather than a full reversal. For a continuous process industry like ours, steadier commercial LPG pricing and fuel we can rely on matter just as much as the price itself, because energy security is as important to us as energy cost. A stable operating environment also supports the wider packaging chain that serves sectors such as beverages, pharmaceuticals and FMCG.”
