SET-listed Siam Gas and Petrochemical (SGP), Thailand's second-largest liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) trader by volume, expects its 2022 sales to increase towards pre-pandemic levels, partly due to pre-orders and the improving Covid-19 situation.
Sales volumes are predicted to stand at 3.65 million tonnes this year, compared with 3.83 million tonnes in 2019.
Last year, SGP recorded sales of 3.28 million tonnes from domestic and Asian markets.
Jintana Kingkaew, SGP's deputy managing director and chief financial officer, said the company bases its estimate on pre-orders for the third and fourth quarters of this year and the easing of lockdown measures in Asian countries where the company operates its business. These include Malaysia, Vietnam, China and Singapore.
LPG prices, based on global propane and butane prices and known as the Saudi Aramco reference price, are set to increase to US$750-800 per tonne this year, up from an average of $390-400 per tonne last year.
SGP expects its domestic sales to make up 22% of total sales, with the remaining 78% coming from overseas trade.
"We expect all our markets to grow significantly, following vaccination programmes against the Covid-19 pandemic and restoration of consumer purchasing power," said Mrs Jintana.
The company is looking for new LPG business opportunities in Asian countries in conjunction with a rapid growth in LPG demand, especially those shifting from using charcoal as a household fuel to LPG, which is a popular cooking gas.
In Myanmar, SGP is operating a 230-megawatt gas-fired power plant and a 10MW diesel-fired power plant.
Mrs Jintana said her firm plans to diversify to other new opportunities to reduce dependence on power generation and LPG-related businesses.
