The crisis of bottled edible oil is continuing in the kitchen market in the city. Although the government increased the price of soybean oil by Tk 8 per litre last Monday, companies have not normalized the supply of oil in the market in the last four days. Most of the shops in the city and its neighbouring areas are still not getting adequate supply of soybean oil.
However, there is good news in the market for almost many other products. The prices of some grocery products including potatoes, onions and vegetables have also decreased. The prices of chicken and eggs are stable.
On Friday, Rezaul Alam, owner of Alam Store in the Malibagh kitchen market said that the company was supposed to deliver the oil Thursday, but the wholesaler said distributors would not be able to deliver it. They will deliver it on Saturday. The situation has been the same for almost two weeks. In the meantime, the price of oil has increased. I hope to get the oil from Saturday."
Talking to distributors of various brands, it was said that so far, except for one, no other company has released new-priced soybean oil bottles in the market. That is why they are also unable to offer the product at the retail level.
With the additional price, the price of bottled soybean oil in the market is now Tk 175 per litre. And the price of loose soybean oil is Tk 157. However, the oil at this new price has not arrived yet. Due to the supply shortage, bottled soybean oil has been seen being sold at Tk 180 per litre. Before the new price increase, bottled soybeans were priced at Tk 167 per litre and loose soybeans were priced at Tk 149 per litre.
Meanwhile, the government wants to increase the supply of rice bran oil as an alternative to ensure the supply of edible oil at a reasonable price in the market. For this reason, it has been recommended that a high duty be imposed on rice bran oil exports and to make it mandatory to obtain approval before export. The Bangladesh Trade and Tariff Commission has submitted a report to the Ministry of Commerce and the National Board of Revenue (NBR) with recommendations in this regard.
The recommendation of the report states that a 25 per cent regulatory duty can be imposed on exports to ensure the supply of refined and unrefined rice bran oil in the local market. At the same time, it has been recommended to add the condition of approval of the Ministry of Commerce, subject to the recommendation of the commission, before exporting all types of rice bran oil.
The Ministry of Commerce says that rice bran oil is exported to India every year from Bangladesh. For this reason, the Tariff Commission has submitted a report titled 'Rapidly impose controls on rice bran oil exports to increase the supply of edible oil in the local market' to the Ministry of Commerce.
The commission says that the 20 mills in the country have a total production capacity of 4.5 lakh tonnes. However, not all of it is being utilized. At one time, rice bran, the raw material for this oil, was exported from this country, to prevent it a 25 per cent duty was imposed on rice bran exports in the 2019-20 fiscal year. However, there is no duty on oil exports. Due to this, a large amount of rice bran oil is being exported to neighbouring countries.
Despite the shortage of edible oil in the retail market, the price of lentils is being sold by Tk 5 more per kg compared to last week at Tk 115 to Tk 130. In addition, the prices of other products including sugar and flour have remained stable.
The onion market, which has been unstable for a long time, has also started to recover. The prices have also decreased. A month and a half ago, a kilogram of good quality local onions was priced at Tk 140 to Tk 150. It has dropped by Tk 40 per kg and is now being sold at Tk 100 to Tk 110. Now, a kilogram of local hybrid onions has dropped by Tk 30 and is being sold at Tk 80 to Tk 90, while a kilogram of imported onions is being sold at Tk 75 to Tk 80. A kilogram of such onions was priced at Tk 100 even a month and a half ago.
Abu Khalek, a shopkeeper at Malibagh Bazaar, said that new onions have started to sprout. Green onions have also arrived. As a result, traders have started releasing previously stored onions into the market. When the new onions arrive in full swing, the price will come down further.
A downward trend has also been seen in the potato market. The price of new potatoes imported from India has dropped from Tk 120 to Tk 70. Due to the abundance of such potatoes, the price of old potatoes has also dropped by Tk 10 per kg and is being sold at Tk 60 to Tk 65.
A kilogram of beans is being sold for Tk 40 to Tk 50, which was Tk 80 to Tk 100 a couple of weeks ago. A kilogram of radish has come down from Tk 40 to Tk 20. In addition, a kilogram of turnip is being sold for Tk 40 to Tk 50 and a kilogram of brinjal is being sold for Tk 40 to Tk 60. Depending on the size, the buyer has to pay Tk 30 to Tk 50 to buy each flower and cabbage.
The price of green chilli, which had touched the sky a few days ago, has come down to the bottom. Now a kilogram of green chilli is being sold for Tk 60 to Tk 80 in the market. Green chilli was been sold at this price for the last two weeks.
The price of chicken has also remained unchanged in the market. Like last week, a kilogram of broiler is being sold for Tk 175 to Tk 185 and a kilogram of Sonali variety chicken is being sold for Tk 270 to Tk 290. The farm chicken eggs are being sold for Tk 145 to Tk 150 per dozen.
