World

Pakistan Families Switch to Firewood as LPG Prices Surge

By Prisha Patnaik

In Rawalpindi, Pakistan, households are turning back to firewood, coal, and kerosene as natural gas supplies are limited to about six hours a day and LPG prices climb. The Express Tribune reports that people are increasingly using cheaper options such as discarded furniture wood and sawdust. LPG costs have risen sharply: a new domestic cylinder now sells for PKR13,500 (≈Rs 4,644) compared with PKR10,000 (≈Rs 3,440) earlier; refill charges have jumped from PKR3,000 (≈Rs 1,032) to PKR5,000 (≈Rs 1,720), and commercial cylinder refills have nearly doubled to PKR25,000 (≈Rs 8,600). Prices for firewood and coal have also increased. Dry firewood ranges from PKR1,500 (≈Rs 516) to PKR1,800 (≈Rs 619) per maund, ordinary firewood from PKR1,300 (≈Rs 447) to PKR1,400 (≈Rs 482), coal from PKR800 (≈Rs 275) to PKR1,000 (≈Rs 344) per maund, and sawdust about PKR700 (≈Rs 240) per maund. Muhammad Faizan, a furniture factory owner, said residents now collect waste wood near Nullah Lai for cooking. Shehzad Manzoor Kiyani, divisional president of the All‑Pakistan Clerks Association, noted that inflation and unreliable gas supplies have forced government employees to use firewood and coal, spending PKR10,000 (≈Rs 3,440) to PKR12,000 (≈Rs 4,127) a month on LPG. The crisis comes as Pakistan’s LPG supply faces further pressure. The Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) raised the official LPG price for November to PKR294,075 (≈Rs 1,011,380) per tonne from PKR279,341 (≈Rs 960,840) in October. The price of an 11.8‑kg domestic cylinder rose by PKR173 (≈Rs 59) to PKR3,470 (≈Rs 1,194), making the official retail rate PKR294 (≈Rs 101) per kg. In the open market, LPG sells for as much as PKR630 (≈Rs 217) per kg, while company‑operated franchises charge up to PKR400 (≈Rs 138) per kg. Ogra said the increase followed a 6.47% rise in Saudi Aramco’s contract price, despite a 0.12% decline in the average dollar exchange rate. Irfan Khokhar, chairman of the LPG Distributors Association of Pakistan, warned that the closure of the Iran border could worsen the situation, noting that at least 70% of Pakistan’s LPG is imported from Iran, with the remaining 30% produced locally. He urged the government to curb market manipulation. The Pakistan LPG Marketers Association has threatened to shut down businesses from November 16 if the government sidelines the private sector under its proposed LPG policy. Association chairman Ali Haider said the government should keep the sector deregulated, arguing that the private sector plays a major role in imports. Haider noted that of about 1.3 million tonnes of LPG consumed, roughly 225,000 tonnes were imported from the Gulf, largely by private companies. In a letter to petroleum minister Ali Pervaiz Malik, the association said the draft policy sent to the prime minister had been prepared without private‑sector input and called for complete deregulation of the LPG sector. The association also criticised the petroleum development levy of Rs4,669 per tonne on locally produced LPG under the 2016 policy, which was intended to help state‑owned entities import LPG during winter and emergencies. Haider alleged that despite billions of rupees being collected through the levy, these entities had failed to import supplies during the current shortage.