One of the UK’s leading suppliers of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) has halted sales of its canisters on its own website, citing high demand and supply chain problems.
Calor Gas said in a statement to customers: “We’re experiencing gas cylinder availability issues due to higher demand, restricted supply, global shipping disruption, and ongoing resource challenges.
“Gas cylinders are available to buy from many Calor retailers nationwide but are currently unavailable to buy from our online shop.”
Last month, a Norfolk caravan park, said supply of the canisters had become so patchy the business might be forced to cancel bookings.
Tim Peers, who runs Grasmere Caravan Park, in the village of Caister-on-Sea, near Great Yarmouth, said that prior to the coronavirus pandemic, he would normally place orders of up to 25 19kg Calor gas cylinders.
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However, in recent months, he would consider himself “lucky” to get his hands on 10 of the canisters, he said.
“After our last order, we had two 15kg bottles,” Mr Peers told local newspaper The Great Yarmouth Mercury.
In a statement, Calor said: “We experienced cylinder availability issues due to sustained high levels of demand and the impact the pandemic had on our operational staff and supply chain.
“Over the winter months, we prioritised the delivery of [larger] winter cylinders to domestic customers who were reliant on them for heating and hot water, and industries reliant on LPG such as hospitals and care homes.
“This has meant that as we transitioned to the summer sizes the availability of some of our other cylinder sizes has been impacted.
“Gas cylinders are available to buy from many Calor retailers nationwide but are currently unavailable to buy from our online shop.”
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