The Ministry of Commerce has asked Bangladesh Trade and Tariff Commission (BTTC) to provide import and market data on current rates of edible oil before considering whether the companies’ latest proposal to hike the price is justified.
Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi on Monday told UNB, “We have asked the Bangladesh Vegetable Oil Refiners and Vanaspati Manufacturers Association (BVORVMA) not to raise the price now.
“We would decide whether the proposed prices are reasonable in proportion to the import price after getting a report from BTTC,” he said.
The BVORVMA wrote a letter to the commerce ministry on Sunday saying the new tariff would be effective from Tuesday, but the ministry disagreed.
Marketing companies have proposed to raise the price of bottled soybean oil to Tk 180, an increase by Tk 12 per litre.
On February 6, the price of soybean oil was hiked by Tk 6 per litre.
According to the calculations of the government agency Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB), on January 7, 2019, the price of a five-litre bottle of soybean oil was raised from Tk 485 to Tk 510.
This time edible oil price is proposed to be fixed at Tk 870 for a five-litre bottle of soybean oil.
The government revenue is also increasing with rising edible oil prices.
Earlier, the commerce ministry wrote a letter to the National Board of Revenue (NBR) requesting tax exemption for keeping edible oil prices reasonable, but the NBR did not respond.
Shafiul Athar Taslim, director (finance and operation) of edible oil marketing company TK Group, said, "We requested to set a new price of edible oil immediately considering the global market price.”
He said soybean and palm oil prices are rising in the world market. In this situation, if a reasonable price is not fixed in the country, there is a risk of creating a shortage of supply in the domestic market.
The new proposal calls for raising the price of not only bottled soybean oil, but also unpacked soybean and palm oil.
Now the fixed price of unpacked soybean oil is Tk 143 per litre, which the companies want to increase to Tk 157.
Palm Super Oil wants to increase from Tk 143 to Tk 150.
The fixed price for a five-litre bottle of soybean oil is now Tk 795, which has been proposed to be fixed at Tk 870.
