The price of 13-kilogram Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), or cooking gas, hit an all-time high this April, reaching the highest real monthly average, discounting inflation, since the beginning of the Agency’s price survey. National Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels (ANP), started in 2001.
The 13kg cylinder is sold in Brazil at an average price of R$ 113.48, according to the ANP, representing 9.4% of the minimum wage, the highest level since March 2007 – when the cylinder cost R$ 33.06 and the minimum wage was R$350.
The survey is from the Petrobras Social Observatory (OSP), an organization linked to the National Federation of Oil Workers (FNP), based on the average monthly price of LPG and the average weekly resale values in April, released by the ANP.
The data show that last March, cooking gas had already reached the highest real average price in the historical series, being sold at R$ 109.31. Before that, the record had been registered in November 2021, with the average price of BRL 106.50.
According to economist Eric Gil Dantas, from the OSP and the Brazilian Institute of Political and Social Studies (Ibeps), cooking gas once again compromised the minimum wage in the same proportion as in 2007. “In these 15 years, with the maintenance of gas prices and the appreciation of the minimum wage, this proportion was falling, but there was a reversal in 2017 with the rise in LPG values and the real increase in the minimum wage”, he points out.
firewood
This change in scenario, adds the economist, had an immediate first effect, which was the growth in the use of firewood by Brazilian families.
“Between 2013 and 2016, according to data from the Energy Research Company (EPE), the population consumed more LPG than firewood. in homes across the country. And, in 2020, this consumption was already 7% higher than that of LPG”, said Dantas.
