A shipment of 11,000 tonnes of butane arrived in Alexandria from Algeria on Thursday, in an attempt to address the country’s cooking gas shortage, the Al-Ahram Arabic news website reported.

The Algeria shipment is part of 48,000 tonnes of butane expected to be imported, the petroleum ministry stated on Tuesday.

In addition to the imports the ministry also said that Egypt produces around 6,000 tonnes of the gas per day.

Turkish news agency Anadolu cited an anonymous official in the General Egyptian Petroleum Authority saying that the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia would deliver Egypt free shipments of cooking gas amounting to 40,000 and 70,000 tonnes respectively by December.

Long queues have been reported recently at butane depots nationwide and consumers have been complaining about apparent inflated prices. The gas cylinders are supposed to be sold at LE8 each.

During previous shortages, prices reached LE75 per cylinder on the black market.

Butane subsidies amount to LE20 billion (almost $3 billion) annually -- around 20 percent of Egypt’s total fuel subsidies.

The Ministry of Internal Trade and Supply said the shortage is mainly due to delays in shipments of butane gas because of poor weather conditions.

Egypt produces around 2 million tonnes per annum of butane, while its annual consumption is at approximately 4.5 million tonnes.