LPG price jumps 56% as border closure squeezes Pakistan's rickshaw drivers

A 12-kg cylinder of liquefied petroleum gas now costs 7,000 rupees in Pakistan's open market, up 56% within days of two Iranian border crossings closing on 17 October, according to traders cited by Token Times. The Pakistan LPG Association said the country had been importing about 7,000 metric tonnes a day from Iran before the closures.

For Rashid Ali, 33, who has driven a motorised rickshaw around Lahore for 13 years, the arithmetic no longer works. He once cleared $6.50 a day; now he is lucky to make $3, he said. Rent on the rickshaw takes 600 rupees a day, he fills up four or five times at 300 to 400 rupees a time, and his home costs 11,000 rupees a month. His family has cut back to two meals a day.

Majeed Ghauri, chairman of the Awami Rickshaw Union, calls LPG "the fuel of the poor". He said about 70% of the union's 43,000 auto-rickshaws and nearly 8,000 Qingqi three-wheelers run on it. Passengers are resisting higher fares: Mohammad Ramzan said he offered half of a 500-rupee quote for a city ride and walked away when the driver refused.

The closures are the latest energy shock since the US-Iran war began in February. Balochistan's government cited security and smuggling for the decision to shut the crossings; Iran's foreign ministry blamed technical issues, and Iran's ambassador later said no restrictions on LPG exports had been imposed, pointing instead to changes in Pakistan's import paperwork. Petrol hit a record 458 rupees a litre on 3 April and remains about 40% above its pre-war price.

Macro pressure is building alongside it. Inflation reached 9.6% in October, and the central bank raised its policy rate to 12% last week, citing energy and wheat prices. Back home at midday, Ali said his two boys still needed their lunch; he planned to go out again until late at night, hoping to bring something home for them to eat.