Public grumble over fuel price rise

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-07-01 21:42

BEIJING: China's latest fuel prices hike, which is intended to reflect rising international crude cost, sparked widespread debate as consumers grumbled that the record domestic prices were even higher than those in the United States, the world's biggest oil consumer.

The 9-10 percent state-set price rise in gasoline and diesel as of June 30, the second in a month, forced the Chinese motorists to pay more than US$3 a gallon, compared to an average of US$2.69 a gallon in the United States last week.

According to a survey by the Chinese web portal sina.com, 94.3 percent of over 260,000 respondents thought fuel prices are too high now.

"We have to pay one-eighth more than the US consumers, but we earn only one-fifth of their income. It is really confusing," said a netizen from Guangdong Province.

"Why is it so easy to see a domestic price rise when international prices rally, but so hard to see a price cut when global prices fall?" asked a netizen from Sichuan Province.

However Zhou Ruohong, chief analyst with the consultant branch of the China Petrochemical Corporation (Sinopec), the nation's top refiner, told Xinhua Tuesday that the 600 yuan (US$88.24) per tonne increase was still not enough, according to the current price change mechanism.

Under the mechanism introduced in December, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), the nation's economic planning agency, may adjust fuel prices when crude prices change more than 4 percent over 22 straight working days.

In the 22 working days through June 30, crude futures at the Brent, Cinta and Dubai markets averaged at around US$68 a barrel, up 19 percent from the previous calculation period, said Niu Li, a senior researcher at the State Information Center who has kept recording the data.

By the current rules, the domestic prices should rise 1,000 yuan per tonne at least. Refiners still face cost pressure, said Zhou.

Sinopec said on May 22 that it will lose money turning oil into fuel if the international crude prices rise above US$60 per barrel and the Chinese government holds down domestic retail prices.

China's producer price index (PPI), the inflation gauge at the wholesale level, fell for four straight months in May, which gives the Chinese government room to raise prices.

Yu Chunmei, analyst with the Shenyin and Wanguo Securities said the prices could increase 400 yuan per tonne at the end of July to prevent refiners losing money.

She predicted the domestic price will change frequently in the future as international prices fluctuate.

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