Soybean shock!

Soybean scarcity hits Bangladesh, as the major cooking ingredient has mostly disappeared from the shelves of both retail and super shops. The edible oil’s supply has also dried out in online platforms, making it impossible for consumers to order it.

Loose soybean oil is now even scarcer than the bottled variety. The Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB) in its website on Saturday announced it could not find any loose soybean oil for sale in the market, so they could not publish prices for this particular commodity.

The TCB monitors 12 wholesale and retail markets in Dhaka.

The Business Post, on a spot visit to the capital’s wholesale markets, found that a few traders are selling soybean oil, but they are imposing conditions on consumers – such as mandatory purchases of fine rice or pulses.

Online grocery shops have been hit by the soybean scarcity as well. Chaldal.com – the country’s largest e-platform for groceries – usually sells 200-300 tonnes of soybean oil every month, and 80-90 tonnes per week.

This platform sold four tonnes of soybean oil last week, and at the moment, the commodity is out of stock there as well.

Chaldal.com’s CEO Wasim Alam said, “We usually keep enough stock of the soybean oil to cover consumer demand. But we ran out of stock due to the ongoing shortage. We have been facing this issue since last week. No one has a stock of soybean oil.

“It might take one or two months to tackle this shortage.”

Daraz – another large e-commerce platform – also sold soybean oil, but it is out of stock there as well. The situation is similar in super shops such as Shwapno and Agora. Their websites are no longer taking online orders for soybean oil, and outlets cannot say when it will be available.

“We are not taking online orders for soybean oil, as we are out of stock since last week,” Shwapno’s customer care representative Amar told The Business Post. When asked about the current price of 5-litre soybean oil, he said prices will be available once it is back in stock.

Refiners drastically reduced supply

To cover their need for cooking oil, Dhaka’s consumers are buying palm oil from different markets throughout the city.

A number of traders say though edible oil companies continue to take orders for bottled soybean oil, but not nearly enough to cover the demand. Besides, some companies are trying to impose conditions on soybean oil sales, such as mandatory purchases of other goods.

Meanwhile, wholesalers say many oil refiners have drastically reduced the supply of loose oil to the market after the government declared that soybean oil must be bottled before sale.

This issue has caused the prices of this commodity soar, discouraging retailers from buying loose soybean oil. All these factors have severely impacted the supply of soybean oil in the market, they said.

Last year, the Bangladesh Food Safety Authority announced that all types of edible oil will have to be bottled before sale, and the directive will come into effect on March 17, 2022. But on Thursday, Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi said loose soybean oil can be sold till May 31, and palm oil till December 31.

According to a TCB list, on Saturday, the prices of per litre loose palm oil was Tk 155 – Tk 158, palm super Tk 160 – Tk 163, and bottled Tk 165 – Tk 170.

Loose soybean oil was not available for purchase in most of the capital’s Malibagh, Shegunbagicha, Rampura, Maniknagar, Gopibagh and other markets. Traders were selling palm super for Tk 180 per kg and palm loose for Tk 170 – Tk 175 per kg.

Some traders said they are currently selling their stock for Tk 185 – Tk 190 per kg.

A trader in the capital’s Moulvibazar, on condition of anonymity said, “The government has rejected a new proposal by the edible oil refiners seeking yet another price hike, and on the other hand, it has announced plans to ban the sale of loose soybean oil.

“Amid such uncertainty, many wholesalers are carefully weighing the ongoing market situation, while refiners have reduced edible oil supply. These issues have created instability in the edible oil market.”