The demand for two essential commodities--edible oil and sugar--usually rises in the country during the holy month of Ramadan.
With three and a half months left for Ramadan, the prices of sugar in the retail and wholesale market went up by Tk 15 per kg in last two weeks.
Traders have also proposed to hike up the prices of edible oil on the pretext that the US dollar price has increased sharply.
In such a situation, the common people whose income has reduced due to ongoing political unrest are worried about price hikes.
On November 2, the National Board of Revenue (NBR) halved the import duty on refined and unrefined sugar. Although this decision was taken to rein in sugar prices in the domestic market, its prices increased further.
According to the Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB) data, sugar was sold at Tk 130 to Tk 135 per kg two weeks ago. But currently, it is being sold at Tk 145-150 per kg.
It means that the price of sugar has increased by around 8 per cent in last two weeks.
The wholesalers at Karwan Bazar, one of the capital's largest kitchen markets, said that sugar is currently sold at Tk 6,900 per 50-kg sack, which was Tk 6,400 a week ago and Tk 6,200 two weeks ago.
Due to duty cut, importers have to pay Tk 1,500 as import duty on per tonne of raw sugar from the international market. It was Tk 300 before tax deduction. Similarly, import duty on refined sugar has been reduced to Tk 3,000 from Tk 6,000 per tonne.
According to the Ministry of Commerce, the demand for sugar doubles to 3 lakh tonnes during Ramadan while the average monthly demand for sugar in the country is 1.5 lakh tonnes.
Edible oil market
Traders want to increase the prices of edible oil using the excuse of dollar price increase in the kerb market.
Bangladesh Vegetable Oil Refiners and Banaspati Manufacturers Association has written a letter to the Bangladesh Trade and Tariff Commission to adjust the prices quickly.
According to the association's letter sent to the Tariff Commission, the value of dollar has increased substantially in the country's market. The dollar conversion rate for import of edible oil currently stands at Tk 124 to Tk 124.
According to Bangladesh Bank's instructions, banks are not allowed to take more than Tk 111 per US dollar in opening LCs.
Edible Oil Traders Association said this conversion value was fixed at Tk 111 when the price of edible oil was last fixed.
The Ministry of Commerce reduced the prices of edible oil on September 17 last. The price of bottled soybean oil was reduced by Tk 5 to Tk 169 per litre. The price of palm oil was reduced by Tk 4 to Tk 124 per litre.
TCB data showed that bottled soybean oil is being sold at Tk 1165-168 per litre, while loose oil at Tk 150-155 per litre. Palm oil super is being sold at Tk 135-140 per litre while loose palm oil at Tk 125-130 per litre.
However, the dollar conversion rate has risen to Tk 122-124 in the open market for 7-10 days. But in this short period of time, the companies could not bring any products to the country through LCs. Because it takes more than a month to import crude soybean oil and bring it to the country. But the companies are making excuses and pushing for price adjustments now.
The letter, signed by association's executive officer Nurul Islam Mollah, has been submitted to the chairman of the tariff commission.
Commission sources said their application is being reviewed. The commission is scheduled to hold a meeting with the companies after their review.
