Fierce competition seen in LPG retail market this year

Muninth Triphob, executive vice president for commercial marketing, said LPG sales for transportation sector is expected to contract by 9 per cent, close to the level last year, following a decline in popularity of LPG cars as a result of low oil prices.
“This year's LPG business, particularly for the transportation sector , is expected to see high competition. Cutting the LPG retail prices has been seen as a way to compete for customers. PTT does not have the policy to be No 1 for price-cutting but is ready to compete to help dealers and LPG business to survive," he said.
PTT is considering adding non-oil businesses such as convenient stores and coffee shops into PTT's LPG stations for more income and increase safety standard. Presently, PTT has non-oil businesses in more than 30 LPG stations out of its 240 LPG stations nationwide. All LPG stations are operated by dealers.
This year, the company's LPG sales for households is estimated to grow by 1 per cent as expansion in the property sector will be centralised in big cities and most of which will be vertical residential units. PTT aims to maintain its share in this market.
In regard to the safety standard for LPG tanks, check lock valves are being changed to solve the leakage problem and increase safety in delivery. PTT expects to complete ‘valve change’ at a cost of Bt15 million within six years since its beginning in 2016.
Each year, PTT orders about 500,000-600,000 LPG tanks to replace about 100,000 deteriorated tanks and the remainder will be delivered to its dealers for distribution.
In addition, PTT plans to extend its production of lightweight composite gas tanks, produced from polymer and fiberglass on expectation of sales this year.
Meanwhile, LPG for the manufacturing sector is forecast to grow close to the estimated growth of about 3 per cent this year, as there are not many new plants and most of them use bunker oil.
Presently, the amount of LPG usage, excluding petrochemical industry, nationwide stays at about 4.1 billion kilogrammes per year.
Of total LPG usage per year, 2.1 billion kilogrammes are for the household sector, about 1 billion kilogrammes account for PTT sales and represent 48 per cent of market share. About 1.4 billion kilogrammes are for the transportation sector, about 250 million kilogrammes of which are of PTT sales. The remaining 600 million kilogrammes are for the manufacturing sector, about 300-320 kilogrammes of which are of PTT sales.
Previously, LPG business generated about Bt30 billion in annual income for PTT. However, its profit was less than 1 per cent of total income, given high operating expenses and budget of about Bt700-Bt800 million per year.
As the government liberates the LPG business in order to add big players, PTT is confident of retaining its No 1 position in this business. 
PTT is also ready for cooperation if the government will liberate gas storage plants and set up a central gas tank maintenance centre. It , however, expressed concerns over smuggling LPG storage into other brands' tanks.