New Age
Staff Correspondent | Jan 18,2021
The price of soya bean oil skyrocketed to Tk 140 a litre on the kitchen market in the capital, Dhaka, on Sunday.
Although the prices of edible oil have started decreasing on the wholesale market for the last couple of days, the retail prices have continued rising.
The price of soya bean oil increased by Tk 30-35 a litre in the last two months on the local market.
Traders said that the prices of unpacked soya bean oil and palm oil decreased on the wholesale market but it would take time to decrease the retail prices of the item.
They also said that the price of bottled soya bean oil increased the highest and wholesalers were not responsible for the price rise as five to six companies controlled the market of bottled soya bean oil.
‘The prices of both the soya bean oil and palm oil have maintained an upward trend on the local market as the coronavirus pandemic has hampered the global production of the items,’ Bangladesh Paikary Vojjaya Tel Babosayee Samity president Md Golam Mowla told New Age on Sunday.
The president of the edible oil traders’ association said that the price of soya bean oil decreased by Tk 400 a mound to Tk 4,000 a mound on the wholesale market in the last two days but it would take 10 more days to decrease the price of the item on the retail market.
The price of bottled soya bean oil increased by Tk 10 a litre on the retail markets on Sunday and a one-litre bottle of soya bean oil sold for Tk 140 while five litres of packaged soya bean oil sold for Tk 560-640 on the day.
Unpackaged soya bean oil sold for Tk 110-120 a litre and palm oil sold for Tk 105-107 a litre on the day.
Golam Mowla said that the prices of edible oil increased on the international market as the production of soya bean decreased in Brazil and Argentina while that of palm dropped in Malaysia due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
He, however, said that they were not responsible for the prices of bottled soya bean oil and only a few companies controlled the market of the item.
‘I think Tk 140 a litre is the highest ever price of bottled soya bean oil in the country. The companies and commerce ministry know why the price increased to Tk 140 a litter as the Bangladesh Trade and Tariff Commission adjusts the prices of bottled soya bean oil once in three months,’ Golam Mowla said.
Earlier, City Group director Biswajit Saha said that the price of soya bean oil increased to $1,220 a tonne from $1,050 a tonne in the last one month while that of palm oil rose to $1,075 a tonne from $930 a tonne on the international market.
City Group is one of the largest edible oil refiners in the country.
Golam Mowla said that the international prices of edible oil decreased by $50-$60 a tonne in the last few days but consumers would hardly get the benefit of decreased prices due to the country’s dependence on only a few companies for the item.
