The latest gas price hike may not push up the electricity price at the moment, but the move will hit some industrial sectors, including textile spinning and ceramics, as their production cost will rise significantly, industry insiders said.

 

A rise in transportation cost due to hike in CNG price, though only by 7.5 percent, may also increase the prices of commodities. Eating out at hotels and restaurants may also become costlier because of a nearly 35 percent hike in gas prices for commercial use.

 

Irfan Uddin, general secretary of Bangladesh Ceramic Manufacturers and Exporters Association, said their production cost would rise by 4.54 percent on average due to the increase in gas price. “But we won’t be able to pass the increased cost on to our buyers for at least next six months.”

 

Ceramics is predominantly a gas-run industry and one-tenth of its total production cost is spent on gas bills, said Irfan, also the managing director of Farr Ceramics Ltd, an export-oriented business.

 

“We set prices for our products at the beginning of the year. We cannot change the price in the middle of the year, no matter what happens,” he told The Daily Star yesterday.

 

Prices of both gas and electricity impact different manufacturing industries as they directly affect the production costs of factories and their competitiveness. In addition to low labour costs, Bangladeshi manufacturers’ energy costs were competitive compared to some other countries such as China and India.

 

The latest hike in gas price may dent that competitiveness, said businesses expressing concern.

FROM The Daily Star