Residential City Gas Rates to Increase by 8.4% Starting Next Month

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Sejong=Reporter Dongwoo Lee] City gas prices will be further increased after one month. The increase per household is about 2,450 KRW per month.

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced on the 29th that from the 1st of next month, city gas prices for residential and general use will be raised by 8.4% to 9.4%.

Specifically, the residential city gas price will rise from the current 14.6543 KRW/MJ (megajoule, a unit of gas heat energy) to 15.8810 KRW/MJ, an 8.4% increase. Prices for restaurants, dining establishments, and lodging businesses (commercial use 1) will increase from 14.2631 KRW/MJ to 15.5100 KRW/MJ, up 8.7%, and prices for bathhouses and waste incineration plants (commercial use 2) will rise from 13.2614 KRW/MJ to 14.5083 KRW/MJ, a 9.4% increase.

Based on Seoul, the average monthly gas bill is expected to rise from 29,300 KRW to 31,750 KRW.

The reason for the gas price increase is that from May, the natural gas supply regulation revised in December last year reflected the settlement price of 1.23 KRW/MJ from last year into the residential gas rates.

Korea Gas Corporation suppressed price increases despite the sharp rise in LNG import prices last year, resulting in accumulated unpaid receivables. As of the end of last year, the unpaid receivables amounted to about 1.8 trillion KRW.

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy stated, "This cost arose because the fees that should have been collected based on last year's raw material costs were not received," and added, "The increase is inevitable to resolve the unpaid receivables."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.