CPC incurs heavy loss; Rs. 800 and 1,000mn per day

Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) is currently incurring a loss between Rs. 800 and 1,000 million by selling fuel in the country on daily basis, CPC Chairman Sumith Wijesinghe said.

He said CPC suffers a loss of Rs.110 from selling diesel, while Rs.52 from selling petrol.

The CPC continues to lose daily as a result of the current depreciation of the rupee against the US dollar. 

"The diesel required for April will arrive soon. The CPC expects 210,000MT of auto diesel in April. However, 265,000MT of auto diesel have been ordered to meet the higher demand during the current month alongside 140,000MT of petrol. A sum of US$ 18,000 to be paid by the CPC as demurrages for a fuel shipment of 40,000 MT per day. During the past months, no demurrage has been paid for keeping the fuel ships until the cargo was  unloaded, "the Chairman said. 

Almost US $ 375million have already been used from the US$ 500 million  Indian credit line for the purchase of fuel from the Indian Oil Company (IOC).

Meanwhile, the chairman claimed that the government has not yet made a decision to raise fuel prices. (Chaturanga Samarawickrama)