The Liquefied Petroleum Gas Marketers Association (LPGMA) made official Monday a P1-per-kilo add-on to their product prices, following the P1.50 per kilo hike that the group implemented this month.

Arnel Ty, LPGMA president, said the hike took effect at 12:01 a.m. Monday.

LPGMA had earlier announced it as part of its staggered price increases.

On June 1, independent retailers comprising the LPGMA jacked up their prices by P1.50 a kilo, translating to a P16.50 mark up for each regular 11-kilo cylinder of cooking gas.

Monday’s hike, which was supposed to have been imposed last week but was deferred at the last minute, added a further P11 per tank. Ty said that LPGMA members now sell cooking gas tanks between P460 and P480.

The month of June has already seen the highest accumulated price increase posted by the LPGMA since February and March when prices were raised successively due to a reported shortage of LPG.

Also joining the fray were big oil companies Pilipinas Shell and Petron Corp., which have raised cooking gas by PP23.10 per tank during the past two weeks.

LPG tanks from the oil giants retail anywhere from PP505 to P520 each.

Ty had earlier justified the increases as a way of reflecting the continued rise of world contract prices for LPG. Contract prices climbed $43 per metric ton for the month of June, he said.

He said that domestic prices could very well rise again if the uptrend in the international market continues.