The state-owned CPC Corp., Taiwan’s largest distributor of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), announced yesterday the price cut on tanked LPG will take effect starting today due to falling international prices.

The size of the cut is NT$5.75 a kilogram. In other words, a 20-kilogram LPG tank now costs about NT$115 less, depending on retailers who set the final price tags.

Tanked LPG is used by a majority of households, smaller restaurants, and food stalls in Taiwan. A NT$115 reduction should be a relief for them.

A same price reduction will be applied to propane and butane as well as their mixture.

This is the second price reduction in two months to bring the total price cut to 25.9 percent.

CPC will also reduce the price for LPG used by vehicles by NT$3.10 or 17.7 percent per liter. This may save up to NT$200 in fuel costs for a car being driven 700 kilometers each month.

Taxis running on LPG can save much more in terms of fuel costs.

However, the price for liquefied natural gas (LNG) delivered to households through pipes, will remain the same for the time being as CPC said it is still losing money selling it.

But the company is expected to lower the LNG price in January as a result of the declining trend in international LNG prices.

Fuel oil

Meanwhile, CPC has announced a price cut on fuel oil, also due to declining international prices.

The reductions — by NT$5,625 to NT$5,800 or 33.6 percent to 37.7 percent per kiloliter — will also begin today and should be good news for Taiwan Power Co. as well as a large number of industrial and commercial companies.

This is the fourth price reduction since August and the biggest ever on record.

Formosa Petrochemical Corp., the only oil refiner in the private sector normally follows the price readjustments adopted by CPC.

Air fuel surcharges

China Airlines and other Taiwan-based air carriers have been asked to lower fuel surcharges for passengers taking international flights by 14 percent because of falling oil prices.

The levy for short-distance flights will decline by US$2.50 to US$15 per person starting Dec. 10, the Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) said in a statement on its Web site.

Long-haul surcharges for passengers to Australia and New Zealand or on other transcontinental flights will drop by US$6.50 to US$39.

This will be the fourth price reduction for air fuel surcharges since September to bring the total price cut to more than 50 percent.

China Airlines and EVA Airways Corp., Taiwan’s largest airlines, posted third-quarter losses due to high fuel costs.

The carriers are also suffering from slowing sales as a global recession dampens demand for passenger and cargo flights.

Cable TV fees

The National Communications Commission (NCC) decided to lower the basic cable TV rates of eight cable service providers in six counties in southern Taiwan and on offshore islands from the start of next year.

The monthly fees charged by cable providers in the counties of Yunlin, Chiayi, Tainan, and offshore Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu will be lowered by between NT$20 and NT$50 to the range of NT$540 to NT$580 beginning on Jan. 1, according to the NCC decision.

The six counties are the only ones in Taiwan that have not set up committees to regulate cable TV rates, leaving them subject to review by the NCC.

The rate cuts of between NT$20-NT$50 will translate into savings of NT$240 to NT$600 per year for the benefit of around 400,000 households.

The Taipei City Government and the Taipei County Government already decided to maintain basic cable TV rates at the present level of NT$530 per month.

But the rates for low-income households in the capital city will be reduced sharply by a range of one-third to one-fourth of the regular rate effective from Jan. 1 of next year.

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