Consumers' woes regarding use of edible oil intensified further, as the government made the highest surge in maximum retail price (MRP) of branded soybean oil by Tk 38 a litre on Thursday.
With the massive hike, the retail price of per litre bottled soybean oil increased to Tk 198 from Tk 160, while the MRP for a litre of loose soybean oil increased by Tk 37 to Tk 180.
Now, the consumers have to pay Tk 985 for a five-litre jar of bottled soybean oil, which was Tk 760.
As per the latest decision over the price adjustment of cooking oils that comes into effect from today (Friday), the rate of per litre palm oil rose to Tk 172, which is up by Tk 39 from Tk 133 per litre.
The adjustment of the edible oil prices was made after a meeting between the refiners and the government at the Ministry of Commerce (MoC) - following an absolute volatility in the market during Ramadan when oil consumption normally goes up manifold.
MoC Senior Secretary Tapan Kanti Ghosh presided over the meeting.
The decision comes at a time when common consumers are struggling to buy the essential cooking ingredient because of its sudden supply crunch in the market several days before the Eid.
The MoC senior secretary told the FE that they adjusted the MRPs of edible oils in line with the international market, which became extremely volatile in the wake of the ongoing war in Europe along with Indonesia's decision to ban export of all kinds of cooking oil.
The businesses cannot import edible oils, if the rates are not revised in line with the global market, according to him.
When his attention was drawn to the interest of consumers, Mr Ghosh said they made the revision considering everything.
"We'll sit again next week over the edible oil market situation," he added.
Talking to the FE, City Group Director Biswajit Saha said they proposed the edible oil price hike in accordance with the latest price surge in the global market.
At the same time, Indonesia, the world's largest exporter of palm oil, recently announced that the country would stop exporting all kinds of cooking oil. It also led to a sharp rise in cooking oil prices globally, he noted.
The MRP of per litre bottled soybean oil was Tk 135 in February 2021. Since then, the rate was revised six times and increased by Tk 63 a litre in the last 14 months.
Currently, the price of loose soybean oil is Tk 220 a litre, while the branded ones are out of market. The refiners and the distributors blame each other for the supply-demand mismatch.
On March 20, 2022, the government set the MRP of bottled soybean oil at Tk 160 from Tk 168 earlier after cutting VAT and taxes on its import.
Each five-litre soybean oil jar price was revised at Tk 760, loose soybean at Tk 143 a litre, and loose palm oil at Tk 133 a litre.
"Though the refiners agreed with the government's rates, those could not be implemented because of their non-cooperation," said S M Nazer Hossain, vice president of the Consumers Association Bangladesh (CAB).
The edible oil market became out of control amid the refiners' stoppage or squeeze in supply of loose and bottled oils as well as the government's lack of monitoring.
Talking on the latest official hike in edible oil prices - as decreed by the government, he also said the rates are unthinkably higher for limited income people.
"The refiners tactfully forced the government to revise upward the MRPs by keeping the consumers hostage in an unprecedented way through creating an artificial supply scarcity. It is the highest surge in edible oil prices by the government in a single go."
Millions of people have already reduced consumption of the essential commodity. The latest price hike might force them to cut use of cooking oil further, thus creating a vulnerable food security condition among the commoners, Mr. Hossain noted.
However, loose palm oil and loose soybean were still selling at Tk 190-220 a litre by vendors in some kitchen markets.
Bottled oil was almost out of market. A few shops were selling it at Tk 190-200 a litre.
The country had a demand for 2.2-2.4 million tonnes of edible oils in 2021, while it had availability of over 2.7 million tonnes, according to the government data.
It imported 2.2 million tonnes of palm oil, soybean oil and mustard oil, and got another 0.4 million tonnes of soybean oil by crushing seeds locally. The country also produced more than 0.1 million tonnes of mustard oil locally.
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