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18 October 2016

Market intelligence

Our market intelligence is for investors, businesses, manufacturers and service providers in a number of areas – production, transportation (upstream and downstream), refining and storage, bottling and storage, distribution and end user support.

GreenCape’s work in this space

GreenCape’s LPG project is designed to support the sustainable and economic growth of the LPG market in the Western Cape and South Africa. The project team acts as an interface between the gas market (customers), industry, government and academia.

The role of the project is to understand the sector and listen to the customers, industry and academia to understand the obstacles they face in realising the opportunities. The project aims to increase the level of communication between customers, industry, government and academia, and will help facilitate and solve issues, leading to improved efficiency and competitive advantage in the Western Cape gas market. Support activities assist in developing new market entrants, supporting existing companies and driving demand within the gas market in the Western Cape and South Africa. These actives are based on an in depth understanding of changes in the market, current legislation and major barriers or constraints identified.

Opportunities: Fast facts

Residential, commercial and industrial market growing

  • There is therefore considerable scope for expanding the low and middle income household residential, industrial and commercial LPG markets in the Western Cape and rest of South Africa. Current demand rages between 4 – 6 kilograms of LPG per capita per annum estimates suggest this could grow to as much as 20 kilograms of LPG per capita per annum in the medium term.

Council supporting LPG market  

  • The Johannesburg council has already launched an LPG market support program focused on low income houses. The council have also created a campaign to drive gas for water heating in upmarket residential homes.

Need for high level facilitation

  • There is a need for an organisation that directly engages with the gas industry, financiers and project developers to better understand their respective activities and needs, and connects people where relevant. There is currently no active industry association in the Western Cape.

Need for information dissemination

  • A lack of credible information, limited market awareness and constrained demand has reduced the growth potential of the LPG market. There is a need for an organisation to provide useful and relevant support to existing and potential businesses (networking and information-sharing events and publications) and providing policy and regulatory advocacy and support within Government and academic environments.

Lack of communication

  • Appropriate communication to the public and adequate distribution channels will increase the current market significantly (this information should include the benefits, comparative safety and ease of acquisition of LPG).

– Limited funding available

  • Many funders don’t know enough about the LPG market. Do not want to take the risk of funding LPG without demand creation drivers in place, new business development underway, and LPG entrepreneur support.

Key reading

The resources listed here are essential reading, which provide a greater overview of the opportunities in this sector. For other related tools, resources and information see the Library.

Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) market inquiry

Accelerating uptake of LPG in Maputo for lower income households

A challenge and invitation to the South African LPG supply industry

Multiple-Household Fuel Use – a balanced choice between firewood, charcoal and LPG