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Traders have also continued to increase the prices of locally produced mustard and rice bran oils, cashing in on an abnormal price spiral of soya bean and palm oils for months.
Though the government has repeatedly affirmed that the country has ample stock of soya bean and palm oils, an artificial crisis of the items has gripped the domestic market and consumers have been forced to buy mustard and rice bran oils, too, at high prices.
Retailers said that the prices of mustard and rice bran oils continued to rise on the local market as the demand for the items increased due to the supply shortage and price instability of soya bean oil.
Despite increasing the price of soya bean oil by Tk 38 a litre to Tk 198 a litre on Thursday, distributors are yet to increase the supply of the item to the retail market, they said.
The price of mustard oil has increased by up to Tk 110 a litre while the price of a five-litre packaged rice bran oil increased by Tk 50-60 in the past two months, they said.
According to retailers, a five-litre container of packaged rice bran oil now sold for Tk 900–965 but the price was Tk 850–865 three months ago.
They said that rice bran oil producers hinted at increasing the price of five litres of bottled oil to Tk 1,100 from the existing Tk900–965 shortly.
Consumers expressed their resentment at the price hike of locally produced mustard and rice bran oils.
‘Before Ramadan, the price of one litre of packaged mustard oil was Tk 240 but now the item sells for Tk 360,’ Mizanur Rahman, proprietor of Hazi Mizan Store at Karwan Bazar in the city told New Age on Saturday.
He said that a one-litre bottle of Suresh brand mustard oil sold for Tk 400, which was Tk 300 before Ramadan.
‘Though the price of soya bean oil was increased on May 5, there is still no supply of the item from the distributors,’ Mizanur said.
Amid the acute supply shortage of soya bean oil, rice bran oil producers hinted that they would increase the price of the oil further, he added.
‘The price of a commodity depends on its supply and demand situation. A crisis over the price and supply of soya bean oil has created an additional demand for mustard and rice bran oils on the market,’ Mohammad Dabirul Islam, head of finance of Bangladesh Edible Oil Ltd, told New Age.
He said that the prices of mustard and rice bran oils continued to go up due to the high price and supply crisis of soya bean oil.
Though mustard and rice bran oils are produced with local raw materials, their supplies are not available, he said.
The demand for the cooking oils now being used as alternative to soya bean oil has been on the rise but the production of mustard was poor in quantity and at the same time rice bran oil producers are facing shortage of quality bran, Dabirul said.
Bangladesh Edible Oil Ltd produces Fortune brand rice bran oil and Rupchanda brand mustard oil.
This edible oils producer is also well-known for its soya bean oil brand Rupchanda.
Dabirul said that the soya bean oil supply would increase on the market within two or three days.
‘Increasing the prices of locally produced cocking oils, including mustard oil, is nothing but an unfair act by traders,’ said Ashikur Rahman, an employee of a readymade garment buying house.
The prices of imported palm and soya bean oils have gone up due to the international market price rises but why should the prices of locally produced mustard and rice bran oils increase? he questioned.
Janata Oil Mills, one of the largest mustard oil producers in Dhaka, on Saturday increased the price of a litre of packaged mustard oil to Tk 350 from Tk 290.
A salesman of the company said that after increasing the price of soya bean oil the demand for mustard oil had increased in the past two months.
He also said that the price of mustard had gone up by Tk 800 to Tk 4,000 for 40 kg in the past 15 days.
Amid the acute supply shortage of edible oils on the local market, the government on May 5 allowed the edible oil refiners to up the price of soya bean oil by Tk 38-44 a litre and palm oil by Tk 42 a litre.
Despite increasing the price of unpackaged soya bean oil to Tk 180 a litre, the item was selling for Tk 200–210 a littre in different city parts on Saturday.
The commerce ministry and traders also set the price of a one-litre bottle of soya bean oil at Tk 195–198, a five-litre container of soya bean oil at Tk 985 but retail stores in the city still remain out of stock of the item.
According to official data, Bangladesh consumes more than 21 lakh tonnes of edible oil annually.
Of the demand, the country locally produces two lakh tonnes of mustard oil and more or less one lakh tonnes of rice bran oil.
(NA)
