A meeting of the national price monitoring and fixing committee under the Bangladesh Trade and Tariff Commission (BTTC) on Wednesday could not come to a consensus on a proposal of price hike of soybean oil.
The meeting was held at the BTTC office in the capital.
The Bangladesh Vegetable Oil Refiners' and Vanaspati Manufactures' Association (BVORVMA) recently placed the proposal before the BTTC for a fresh hike of edible oil prices.
A meeting source said the association representatives failed to justify their bid for price hike.
He confirmed that there would be another meeting of the committee next week, possibly on Tuesday, to take a decision on the proposal.
The committee asked for more documents from the BVORVMA in favour of their proposal, he added.
A senior official of the BTTC said bottled edible oil prices increased by 57 per cent in the country during the last three months, which has no justification. The commission would put forward its recommendations to the commerce ministry after the second meeting on the proposal (next week), he added.
The committee members include the BTTC chairman and senior officials, representatives from the National Board of Revenue (NBR), consumer rights association, agriculture ministry, commerce ministry, food ministry, central bank, BVORVMA, Institute of Cost and Management Accountants of Bangladesh (ICMAB) and several intelligence agencies.
Last week, the edible oil market players demanded an increase in the price of a five-litre pack of bottled soybean oil by Tk 45 to Tk 635 at the mill gate.
They also proposed a Tk 10 hike in the price of super palm oil to Tk 105 per litre at the mill gate.
The association requested the government to review the new mill gate prices of soybean and super palm oil with effect from March 03.
On February 17, the government fixed the maximum retail prices, mill gate prices and distributor level prices for soybean oil and palm oil amid soaring prices of these essential items in the domestic market.
The committee took the decision in its first meeting, held at the commerce ministry.
The price of loose soybean oil was fixed at Tk 115 per litre at the consumer level, Tk 110 per litre at the distributor level, and Tk 107 per litre at the mill gate.
Bottled soybean oil was priced at Tk 135 per litre at the consumer level, Tk 127 per litre at the distributor level, and Tk 123 per litre at the mill gate.
The price of a five-litre bottled soybean oil was fixed at Tk 630 at the consumer level, Tk 610 per litre at the distributor level, and Tk 590 per litre at the mill gate.
The price of super palm oil was fixed at Tk 104 per litre at the consumer level, Tk 98 per litre at the distributor level, and Tk 95 per litre at the mill gate.
The National Committee on Essential Commodities, headed by the commerce secretary, was formed in 2011 under the Essential Commodities Marketing and Distributor Appointment Order 2011.
