Total fails to hit LPG sales target

The liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) arm of Total Petroleum Philippines Corp. (TPPC) failed to meet its sales target for the first nine months this year.

Without giving exact figures, a ranking TPPC official said their sales for the Superkalan, the 2.7-kilogram LPG dropped by 15 percent as of August compared to the same period last year.

"Nevertheless, Superkalan continues to control 75 percent of the 2.7-kg market," said Roberto Velasquez, TPPC LPG manager.

On the other hand, the sale of its 11-kg and the 50-kg cylinders reached a total of 3,000 metric tons while its bulk market sales reached 13,000 metric tons in the same period. The heavier category is known as TotalGaz.

"Superkalan went down 15 percent although it continues to dominate the market in its category, accounting for 75-percent market share. Competition comes from Powerkalan of Pryce Gas and Gasulet of Petron," Velasquez added.

Among the major reasons of the poor performance of Superkalan is pirate filling or usage of their cylinders by unscrupulous resellers. The TPPC manager explained that their cylinders are supposed to go back to the dealers to be replaced by filled cylinders. Velasquez said many of the cylinders are not returned and are refilled somewhere else.

He said an estimated 15 percent of their overall losses can be attributed to pirate refilling.– Ted Torres