CAMBODIA'S MAJOR LPG IMPORTER TO TEMPORARILY HALT SUPPLY FROM APRIL

PHNOM PENH, March 23 (Bernama-Xinhua) -- Sokimex, one of Cambodia's leading petroleum and Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) importers, has announced that it will temporarily suspend LPG supply from April due to severe transportation disruptions caused by the ongoing conflict in West Asia, reported Xinhua.

In an official announcement released to the media on Sunday, the company said that due to the ongoing conflict and prolonged instability in West Asia, global transportation of petroleum and LPG has been severely disrupted.

Cambodia, like many other countries, has also been affected by this situation, Sokimex's Vice Chairman Diep Cheng Heng said in the announcement.

"Under these difficult circumstances, Sokimex has been unable to import LPG since the beginning of March 2026 and therefore cannot continue supplying LPG to customers according to market demand," he added.

"Accordingly, Sokimex hereby informs that it will temporarily suspend the supply of LPG effective from April 1, 2026, until further notice," Cheng Heng said.

He said Sokimex will closely monitor the situation and provide updated announcements as promptly as possible, while working in close cooperation with customers to overcome this challenge together.

A litre of LPG costs 3,200 riels (about US$0.8) on Sunday, up 60 per cent from 2,000 riels (US$0.5) before the outbreak of the West Asia conflict, according to the company.

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet said in a post on social media on Saturday that to ease the consumers' burden, the government has subsidised 6.5 US cents per litre for gasoline and diesel, and an additional subsidy of 1 US cent per litre will be provided if international fuel prices exceed US$90 per barrel for gasoline and US$100 per barrel for diesel.

The government has also reduced import duties and value-added tax (VAT) on gasoline and diesel to zero, he said, adding that the special excise tax on gasoline has been reduced to 15.71 US cents per litre and has been cut to zero on diesel.  

-- BERNAMA-XINHUA