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Wednesday, 21 May 2025, 16:11
Bad news for the households that rely on butane gas bottles. As stated in the official state gazette (BOE), the maximum price of a cylinder of butane has risen by 1.87% as of Tuesday, 20 May, reaching 18 euros. This is the fifth consecutive increase since price increases resumed in September 2024. It also marks the highest price since November 2022.
According to calculations made by consumers' organisation OCU, the price is two euros higher than it was a year ago. The question is: why is there an increase to start with? According to the ministry for ecological transition and demographic challenge, the rise is mainly due to the need to make up for a shortfall from the previous price update.
The maximum selling price of bottled liquefied petroleum gases (LPG) in containers of between 8 and 20 kilograms is not liberalised. Its value is revised bimonthly on the third Tuesday of the month. These regulated prices only affect traditional cylinders and not the other formats, such as the small ones - usually 12 kilograms - or the plastic ones, which have a free-market price and are sold by Repsol or Moeve (the former Cepsa).
Just over a decade ago, the government decided to adopt a new pricing system. Since 2015, the price has experienced notable variations in short periods of time. Traditionally, butane prices tended to rise in winter and fall during the summer, but this trend was broken in 2021 and 2022.
In the May 2022 review, a record high price per cylinder was reached - 19.55 euros. From that point, the price began to fall, but last autumn new rises began, culminating in the latest revision.
In the current two-month period, the temporary increase of 20 cents per 12.5-kilogram cylinder is no longer applied. This increase had been added to the temporary cap of 5% on the maximum price rise (before tax) and was intended to speed up the inclusion of the new regulated distribution cost in the final price. Since that cost has now been fully absorbed, the surcharge has been removed.
This bimonthly review is calculated on the basis of the cost of raw materials (propane and butane) on international markets, as well as the cost of freight (transport) and the evolution of the euro-dollar exchange rate. Moreover, this price revision, upwards or downwards, is limited to 5%, with the excess or shortfall in price accumulating for application in subsequent revisions.
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