The Liquefied Petroleum Gas Marketers Association (LPGMA) rolled back its cooking gas price for the fourth time this month, shaving P0.50 per kilo effective 12:01 a.m. Tuesday.

Arnel Ty, LPGMA president, said the group had earlier imposed price cuts on July 1, 12, and 19. Ty had announced that their fourth price cut will be enforced Monday, July 26, but it was apparently put off until Tuesday.

A rollback of P0.50 a kilo translates to a P5.50-markdown for every regular cylinder of LPG, which weighs 11  kilos. The LPGMA has been rounding off the rollbacks to P6 per tank.

Figures gathered by the Manila Bulletin showed that cooking gas cylinders from LPGMA member-brands now retail at P536, down from last week’s suggested retail price (SRP) of P542. In comparison, LPG tanks from big oil firms such as Shell (Shellane) and Petron (Gasul) sell between P570 and P600 apiece.

Ty said world contract prices for the sensitive commodity have been on a downward trend and the rollbacks were the group’s way of reflecting the plunge.

The LPGMA has implemented a total of 12 rollbacks on their product prices so far this year, resulting in an accumulated rollback of P77.50 per tank.

World contract prices or delivery prices fell $48 for the month of July, the official noted. Contract prices for LPG stood at $693 per metric ton last June, which is $25 lower than it was in April and May.

LPGMA member-brands include Republic Gas, Pinnacle Gas, Cat Gas, Omni Gas, Nation Gas and Island Gas. The group is expected to tweak prices anew in a week’s time, or during the first few days of August.