Bulk LPG - Cheapest suppliers / supply route?

danlojo

Just had a nice phone call to get them down further

47ppl is a little better:D Fixed until March 2012

Not the best price ever but we only use between 2500l and 3000l tops per year

meagan

In Sept 2010 I took out 2yr with calor at 37p(sounds good now)but last feb and this month I had a letter saying I had benefited from a price below their standard price so my price would in crease by 3.5 ,which I know is the allowed price increase,but my point is they didn't say it was due to price of oil they are just putting it up because they can and they is nothing I can do about it

danlojo

Meagan, I took mine out in August 2010 and they said it wouldn't go up more than 3.5ppl up every 6 month interval. Now they say it was 3.5ppl every quarter, hence my price hike but I have managed to get them down a bit. I did get £50 free fuel to start and another £50 at the first year anniversary (this month).

What price have you got now and where are you?

HateLPG

Good to see this thread finally waking up again after an extended summer holiday

I thought these figures might prove helpful. As those of you who have read my previous posts in this thread and elsewhere will know, I am in no way an apologist for the LPG companies. Indeed, I believe many of them have frequently acted scandalously in the past. However, I am at the same time a realist and I recognise not all factors are within their control. When I said in a recent post that somewhere around the 50ppl mark for average usage was probably a good ballpark figure, this was not a random figure plucked out of thin air or based on what suppliers are currently charging, it was based on a view of wholesale LPG pricing.

There are a number of factors that have significantly affected LPG wholesale prices in the past five or six years:

1. Global demand for has increased. In part this is due to obvious increased usage (eg new automotive applications) but also, in the chemical industry, LPG can be used as an alternative (although slightly inferior) feedstock to Naptha (don't ask me about the science of this!). As the price of Naptha has increased dramatically, much of the chemical industry is now turning to LPG as a viable substitute;
2. Not so very long ago, LPG was an awkward by-product that gas and oil producers were glad to be able to sell, and was often simply "burned off". As usage and therefore demand has risen, LPG has increasingly been traded on the "futures" market, and this commoditisation is arguably the most significant contributor to the price rises we have seen in recent years;
3. LPG, like all petrochemicals is traded in US Dollars. As Sterling and the Euro are currently weak against the dollar, this further increases the ppl price.

And then of course there is good old plain and simple "inflation" to throw into the mix.

Anyway, enough of the discussion on reasons for the increases in price (I'm sure there are additional factors I have not detailed here - Geopolitical upheaval for one), here are some good hard figures that illustrate where the base wholesale price of LPG has gone in the past few years. Remember, these are wholesale bulk prices, i.e. what Calor, Flogas etc have to pay to the producers per litre of LPG.

These figures are based on the US dollar per tonne rate for North West European FOB ANSI Propane, which is probably the key index that dictates the price of LPG in the UK. They have then been converted to a ppl rate (which makes more sense to us domestic users) using a propane density of 582 kg/m3 and using the prevaling USD/Sterling exchange rate in force at the time.

Jan 2005 - 11.98 ppl
Feb 2010 - 26.37
Aug 2010 - 22.64
Feb 2011 - 30.36
Aug 2011 - 31.39

Over the period Jan 2005 to Aug 2011, the peak LPG price was 37.06ppl in January 2011.

To see the significant effect of currency fluctuations, the same figures, as converted using the USD/Sterling exchange rate in effect as of January 2005 are:

Jan 2005 - 11.98 ppl
Feb 2010 - 21.88
Aug 2010 - 18.50
Feb 2011 - 25.50
Aug 2011 - 26.62

Hopefully, this puts things into some context. Just for once, when LPG suppliers say "prices have increased significantly" this is in fact the case in the past 12 months and is not just their usual unsupportable atempt at a smoke-and-mirror justification for a price increase.

All that said, don't just take any price increase lying down. Challenge your supplier. As danlojo has just posted, prices can be negotiated downwards. But equally, be aware that prices are currently very high (and may remain there), so before you kick your existing supplier into touch for imposing a significant price rise, make sure you can find a new supplier that can supply you at a comparable rate - especially if you are one of the lucky few still paying in the region of the low 40s ppl or less!

meagan

danlojo wrote: »

Meagan, I took mine out in August 2010 and they said it wouldn't go up more than 3.5ppl up every 6 month interval. Now they say it was 3.5ppl every quarter, hence my price hike but I have managed to get them down a bit. I did get £50 free fuel to start and another £50 at the first year anniversary (this month).

What price have you got now and where are you.

I live in lincolnshire bordering on notts,it was written into my contract that there would be no price increase within 6mths period.at present i am paying 40.5 and from 1st oct. it will be 44

GrandadRob

Just a thought...beware of offers about holding the price until a future date............by the time the date expires, you probably wouldn't need a fill anyway......

As for the Herefordshire general area, check out Callow. A good, fair, smallish independant company. NO tricks, NO promises, NO gimmicks, just gas for sale at a reasonable price. I use them.

heather8

ponymad wrote: »

I was with Flogas and moved very successfully to a local supplier. when I moved, I had to sign an agreement for 2 yrs, they told me that the tank would need to be replaced, said their company policy was around 15yrs. Anyway they have just changed and they were excellent, replaced what I thought was an illegal fence around the tank without a problem. I still get a good deal from them . Only have top ups when I want can pay for as little as 500l
....TBH not sure what I m paying right now but I will be finding out today and posting to help anyone out there.
BTW live in N Yorkshire and the supplier is BATA

Which supplier are you using please, as I live in W Yorkshire and am currently being charged 59p per litre with a small company and am currently at the end of my contract.

Anyone have any recommendations of which suppliers to try for Yorkshire area, I am currently with BDS fuels. They have been excellent and delivered in all the snow. But if I can get a cheaper price, i will consider moving.

longforgotten

Yes thanks to all for latest prices and help.

This thread is a godsend.

Contract with Countrywide is up for renewal very soon............

The_Hornet

The_Hornet wrote: »

Just to clarify the figures I got, they are all based on 3000l a year and were the first figures quoted by the suppliers without any effort by me to negotiate them. As I stated I am out of contract with Countrywide and the last couple of fills I've had from them were:
March 2011 - 43p
December 2010 - 42.7p

Had an interesting chat with a friend who is also with Countrywide and lives about half a mile away from me. Seems he got a nice letter from them a week or two ago informing him that due to increases in the wholesale LPG market they were increasing his price to 52ppl ! This is compared with their quote to me of 43p. Hmm! He has been with them for years and is also out of contract.

Needless to say he will be phoning them to point out the error of their ways.

welshsue

Have at last left Calor... yippee.... Been in contract with them for 6yrs and been getting constantly fed up with them, never had a price reduction in all that time, only increases (put up in Dec for 3.5ppl, then April another 4.5ppl, Gadaffi's fault apparantly). My tank is now illegally sited so has to be moved. Now out of contract with Calor so been looking at prices (Mid wales so a bit limited on companies).
Calor wanted 55ppl + vat to sign up for another 2 yrs. Countrywide have just quoted 41ppl +VAT so have signed with them for 2yrs. Standing charge is also cheaper £12.50 per quarter as opposed to £16 odd with calor.
Also with Countrywide they have a rewards scheme whereby for all gas you have and for all items purchased in their stores you get loyalty points. These equates to a voucher to spend in store. Quite a good scheme by all accounts.

Just need to get landlord to build a new plinth for the tank to sit on then can get the new tank.