Firewood gets to supermarket shelves amidst gas crisis

Following the severe shortage of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) and spate of fires and explosions related to it, consumers have now opted for ‘firewood’ and the soaring demand has now led it to supermarket shelves.

Leading supermarkets are now selling bundles of firewood ranging from Rs. 200 to Rs. 700 depending on the weight and type of wood.

Separately, Consumer Protection State Minister Lasantha Alagiyawanna said the shortage of current LPG cylinders was due to the new directives recommended by an expert committee report.

“The two gas companies are currently distributing around 45,000 cylinders to the market, which is less than their usual output of 100,000 per day. This is mainly due to the process of fixing new valves with recommended composition of gas,” he told journalists.

Whilst the general public are waiting in long queues to get gas, some of the venders are now selling cylinders at black mark prices.

These cylinders are sold ranging from Rs. 3,000 to Rs. 3,500, when the retail price of a 12.5 kg is at Rs. 2,657.

A majority of these cylinders were bought by restaurants, to keep their businesses running, the Daily FT learns.