Sugar prices up, palm oil drops further

The Ministry of Commerce on Thursday increased the prices of sugar by Tk 6 per kg nearly two weeks after the ministry lowered the prices of the commodity.

With the fresh revision, the prices of refined loose and packaged sugar will be Tk 90 and Tk 95 per kg respectively.

On the same day, the ministry reduced further the price of palm oil by Tk 8 following a reduction of Tk 12 per litre on September 25.

Now, the price of a litre of palm oil will be retailed at Tk 125, which was Tk 133 per litre. The ministry issued a notification on the revised prices that come into effect today.

The new prices have been adjusted on the recommendations made by the Bangladesh Trade and Tariff Commission after discussing with the trade organisations concerned reviewing the global prices of raw materials and local production costs, the notification said.

Meanwhile, Commerce Ministry Senior Secretary Tapan Kanti Ghosh told the reporters after a meeting with the stakeholders at the secretariat on Thursday that the price of sugar has been increased considering the rate of US dollar.

The mill gate price of palm oil will be Tk 120 per litre while Tk 122 at the distributor level. It will be sold at Tk 125 a litre at the retail or consumers’ level.

Besides, the mill gate price of loose sugar will be Tk 85 per kg, while Tk 87 at the distributor level, and Tk 90 a kg at the retail level.

Each kg of packaged sugar can be bought at the mill gate at Tk 90, while at the distributor level it will be Tk 92. It can be sold at Tk 95 per kg at the consumers’ level, the notification added.

Earlier on Monday, the Bangladesh Vegetable Oil Refiners and Vanaspati Manufacturers Association reduced bottled soybean oil retail prices by Tk 14 to Tk 178 per litre.

Besides, the new price of a five-litre bottle of soybean oil was fixed at Tk 880, down from Tk 945, while non-bottled soybean oil was retailed at Tk 158 a litre, which was Tk 175 per litre.

Although the prices of soybean oil came into effect on Tuesday, consumers were hardly able to purchase the essential cooking ingredient from the kitchen markets at the prices fixed by the refiners till Thursday.