Stuck without LPG? Go natural!
This year has been plagued by liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) shortages and although Government and the industry are implementing plans to alleviate the shortage, these will take time to product results. In the meantime, businesses need to ensure their survival by finding an alternative that is not only cost effective and environmentally-friendly, but also quick and hassle-free to implement.
The latest LPG shortages, which reached critical levels in the beginning of November, are causing havoc among businesses that are unable to continue their operations and are thus forced to turn away customers, and yet still have to pay their overheads such as rental and staff. Some experts have called this a 'perfect storm' of business challenges - which , given the already strenuous economic conditions, and the high cost of fuel and electricity, could be 'the straw that breaks the camel's back' for many businesses in the country.
The recent shortages are a result of three of the country's six refineries - PetroSA, Sapref and Enref (Engen) - undergoing planned and unplanned shutdowns at the same time.
But this is not an isolated incident. In June and July this year, LPG shortages also came under the spotlight. At the time the South African Petroleum Industry Association (Sapia) said that while PLG production had increased, reports of shortages persisted during the winter months, in part due to the high winter demand. Sapia added that said supply glitches are expected to last for some time, and following the most recent spate of shortages, said that it could not give a timeline as to when production from refineries would normalise.
