There is a shortage of cooking gas in shops in Naypyitaw due to delays in licensing gas imported on sea routes.
This means that shops are having to either get cylinders of gas from inside the country or from across land borders.
Someone who works in a gas shop in east Naypyidaw's Pyinmana Township said: "In Naypyidaw we can only get cooking gas from Yangon and Mandalay. I have had to stop selling it for the last 10 days because I have been unable to buy it."
Previously, cooking gas was far easier to find in Naypyitaw and it retailed at approximately 3,800 kyats (about $2.05 USD at official exchange rates or $1.72 at unofficial exchange rates) a viss. (About 1.63kg). But now, retailers in Naypyidaw are struggling with shortages and it has become hard to find gas.
A Nay Pyi Taw restaurant employee said: “Here there is no gas left. I ordered 15 gas cylinders from the store yesterday, but I didn't get all of them. I've heard that Mandalay and other cities are running low on supplies.”
One gas shop in ZabuThiri Township in Naypyidaw said that they were rationing the number of gas cylinders customers can buy because the shop's stock of gas is low.
A gas shop in Yangon that buys directly from importers told Mizzima that there were delays in the process of licensing imported gas coming seaports, meaning that while there is a shortage of gas in shops in Naypyidaw there is gas stuck at the ports.
Currently, no gas is coming through sea ports so retailers are racing to buy gas imported through the Myawaddy land border with Thailand. Reserve stocks of gas in Myawaddy were sold out within two days.
"As the sea routes [for importing cooking gas] are currently closed customers from throughout the country have rushed to buy gas from the Myawaddy importers. This caused their stocks to run out in two days, even though they had been stockpiling gas for at least two weeks previously," said a store owner from Yangon.
"Currently one viss of cooking gas sells for 6,0000 ($3.24 USD at official exchange rates) kyats in Yangon, some people are even selling it for 8,0000 to 10,000 ($4.32 to $5.40 USD at official exchange rates) kyats a viss", he added.
