Bangladesh News

Edible oil prices increased by Tk 2 per litre yesterday in local markets as crude soybean oil prices soared to $ 1,200 a tonne in international markets the previous day.

On Friday, the international price of crude soybean oil exceeded $ 1,200 per tonne against its previous price of $ 950 to $ 1,000 per tonne. Crude palm oil price also went beyond $ 1,100 per tonne, said local edible oil traders.

Wholesalers at Karwan Bazar and Moulvibazar however alleged that importers and distributors usually create artificial crisis in the country whenever prices rise in the international market.

Market operators said there is no problem in the supply of edible oil as import of more of the commodity is in the pipeline.

According the Bangladesh Bank (BB) data, $532.95 million worth of Letters of Credit was opened between July and December 20, 2007 to import crude and refined edible oil and payment of $ 433.64 million has been settled so far.

Fakhrul Alam, country chief of Malaysian Palm Oil Council, said presently 100,000 tonnes of edible oil is in stock and ships with 100,000 tonnes more are scheduled to arrive in Bangladesh by January 15.

“So, there is no problem in the supply of edible oil right now. The price of the item has been increasing keeping pace with the international market,” he said.

MA Rouf Chowdhury, chairman of Bangladesh Vegetable Oil Refiners and Vanaspati Manufacturers Association, said, “There is no reason for the consumers to be panicked since both the government and the traders are trying to find ways and means to rein in the price of edible oil.”

Edible oil refiners and importers in a meeting yesterday discussed the issue of the recent jump of edible oil prices in the local markets, he said adding that they are scheduled to hold a meeting today with commerce secretary Feroz Ahmed and discuss future course of action in context of the current circumstances.

In today’s meeting, the refiners and importers would urge the government take necessary measurers for taming the prices of edible oil, said Chowdhury.

Local importers of edible oil are observing the situation and “… are yet to make any decision regarding putting the import of edible oil on hold,” said the chairman of the association.

Mentioning how difficult it is to set the price of the item as the edible oil price fluctuates in the international markets, Chowdhury said, “I think the government and the businessmen will be able to find a solution in the meeting for stopping the skyrocketing prices of edible oil.”

At Dhaka’s Karwan Bazar retail stores yesterday, loose soybean oil was selling at Tk 95 to Tk 100 per litre while previous price of the commodity was between Tk 94 and Tk100 per litre.

Retail price of loose ’super’ palm oil yesterday was between Tk 87 and Tk 90 per litre, compared with its previous price of Tk 84 to Tk 86 per litre while palm oil was selling for Tk 83 to Tk 85 per litre — Tk 3 to 4 higher than the previous price, said retailers.

The wholesale price of soybean oil yesterday was between Tk 3,400 and Tk 3,410 per maund while its previous price was between Tk 3,350 and Tk 3,360.

‘Super’ palm oil price at wholesale outlets reached to Tk 3,170 and Tk 3,180 per maund against its previous price of Tk 3,110 to Tk 3,120.

Regular palm oil was selling at Tk 2,980 to Tk 3,000 per maund at the wholesale outlets. The price of the item was between Tk 2,935 and Tk 2,940 a couple of days ago.

Chowdhury said edible oil price in the local markets rose mainly due to the price hike of the item internationally following the latest international price readjustment of fuel oil, the devastating floods of last January in Indonesia — one of the major palm oil producing countries — and for the conversion of edible oil into bio-diesel in the western countries.

Indonesia is one of the major edible oil manufacturers in the world, but a devastating flood in January last year damaged a lot of palm cultivation in that country and as a result the supply of the item shrunk in the international market, he explained.