Sales of liquefied petroleum gas in South Korea increased 2.3 percent last year from a year earlier on account of rising demand for LPG-powered homes and cars, industry data showed Thursday.

Low crude oil prices also helped boost sales, according to data compiled by local refiners. 


A total of 6.06 million metric tons were sold in the country for industrial plants, city gas and vehicles, up from the 5.93 million metric tons tallied in 2014. In 2013, however, the figure had stood at 6.32 million tons.

Another trend was the expansion of smaller players such as E1 Corp. that saw its LPG sales rise to 1.33 million tons last year from 1.24 million tons a year earlier. The company‘s market share inched up to 21.9 percent from 20.9 percent over the cited period.

Major player SK Gas, on the other hand, sold a total of 1.724 million metric tons last year, down slightly from 1.728 million tons a year earlier. Its market share down to 28.4 percent from 29.1 percent over the cited period.

(khnews@heraldcorp.com)