A crisis in the supply of butane gas cylinders is spiralling out of control, reports Ahmed Kotb Shortages in the supply of butane gas cylinders are persisting and escalating day after day to the extent that several people have lost their lives in the process and no one seems to know how to put an end to the dilemma. Long queues of people in front of butane gas cylinder warehouses have become familiar scenes across the country, with people fighting to get one canister that enables them to cook and heat water for a couple of days before they get back in line. The majority of Egyptians depend on butane canisters as a source of heating as consumption normally increases during the winter season. And while the official price per canister is less than LE3, its scarcity has pushed its price up to LE55 on the black market. But there are many who cannot afford to pay the black market price and have no option but to wait, or even sleep, at the warehouses waiting for more gas cylinders to be delivered. The reasons behind the crisis vary. Officials say it is mainly caused by thugs who hijack the trucks that move the gas cylinders to warehouses. Others blame the owners of the warehouses for the problem saying that they hoard the cylinders so they could sell them at a higher price. "Some of the warehouse owners prefer to sell the cylinders in the black market for higher profits," said Fawzi El-Attar, a 54-year-old who suffers from the crisis. He added that the shortages are not unusual and happen every year at the beginning of the winter season, but "this year the situation is a lot worse than ever and the prices of the canisters in the black market are unaffordable." Ahmed Ashraf, a 21-year-old student, believes that there is an actual shortage of supply which does not meet demand. "Gas cylinders are sold in the black market because there are not enough of them to cover people's needs," he said. But Fathi Abdel-Aziz, head of the Supervision and Distribution Department in the Ministry of Social Solidarity, has been quoted as saying that the ministry is now dispensing more butane canisters to meet the soaring demand. "Cairo's share of canisters has jumped by almost 30 per cent to reach 110,000 per day," he stated. He also said that an additional 13,500 tonnes of gas have been distributed across the nation. A tonne of gas produces 80 cylinders. Additionally, the armed forces, in collaboration with the ministry of social solidarity, have lately started sending inspectors every day to many warehouses in order to make sure the canisters are not leaked to the black market. There are over 2,800 warehouses across the country. Yet, the crisis persists. Hossam Arafat, head of the General Division of Petroleum Products at the Federation of Chambers of Commerce, says the crisis is caused by the fact that Egypt produces only 45 per cent of its butane gas needs, and the gap is filled by imports. "Egypt imports 600,000 gas canisters every day. It is hard to provide the local market with its needs in such difficult times, especially when we depend on imports," Arafat said. What maximised the problem, according to Arafat, is the fact that "commercial butane canisters available in the local market are not enough. This means that restaurants and cafés buy the smaller canisters at higher prices and aggravate the crisis by contributing to increasing prices in the black market," Arafat explained. The production of commercial canisters, which are double the size of home canisters, is estimated at around 100,000 per day, while the actual market need, according to Arafat, is approximately 250,000. Hope in preventing more similar crises in the future is pinned on a plan -- devised by former Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif's government and adopted by the current government -- to distribute butane gas cylinders through coupons in order to make sure everyone gets his share. But that scheme has not yet been implemented, and in fact has been delayed several times. Gouda Abdel-Khalek, minister of social solidarity, was quoted as saying that the plan will come into effect after the parliamentary elections are over, and that it will hopefully prevent any future crisis in the availability of gas cylinders.
