Soybean oil price may go up as Bangladesh Tariff Commission (BTC) is considering proposal for hiking edible oil price due to higher production costs. Bangladesh Vegetable Oil Refiners and Banaspati Manufacturers Association (BVORBMA), the association of owners of edible oil refining and marketing companies, has submitted a proposal to raise soybean oil price by Tk 15 per litre. The oil refiners argued that traders will count losses due to higher production costs and price hikes in the global market if soybean oil price is not adjusted. Also read: Soybean oil: No real effect of reduced tariff The refiners submitted a letter last Tuesday to Commerce Secretary Tapan Kanti Ghosh, urging the government to readjust the prices by Sunday (tomorrow). The refiners made the proposal a month after lowering soybean oil price by Tk 14 a litre. Chief Executive of BVORBMA, Nurul Islam Molla, told UNB, the situation was described to the commerce secretary. After a meeting with Salman F Rahman, the prime minister’s adviser for private industry and investment on October 3, the association lowered the prices by Tk 14 a litre. The price of a litre of unbottled soybean oil was set at Tk 158, a litre bottle at Tk 178, and a 5-litre bottle at Tk 880. Read More: TCB to procure 2.25 litres of soybean oil, 15,000 mts of lentil for OMS.

Amid inflation woes, the Bangladesh government has raised the prices of soybean oil by Tk 7 per litre. Bottled soybean oil will now be available at Tk 192 per litre instead of the earlier Tk 185. Similarly, loose soybean oil will be retailed at Tk 175 per litre while a five-litre bottle of the commodity will cost Tk 945. This is according to a notification issued by the Bangladesh Vegetable Oil Refiners and Bonaspati Manufacturers Association. Also read: Importers press for soybean price hike by Tk 20 per litre According to the notification signed by Nurul Islam Molla, the executive officer of the association, the new prices will be effective from Tuesday. The decision to increase the soyabean oil prices was taken after discussions with the country's Trade and Tariff Commission and the Ministry of Commerce on August 17. The association sought a 20 percent price hike at the meeting. Also read: TCB to procure 125 lakh litres soybean oil, 5000 kg lentil from 7 local suppliers Similarly, the prices of one litre of loose palm oil has been fixed at Tk 145. The edible oil marketing companies cut the prices of soybean and palm oil on July 17, adjusting the costs in line with global market rates. According to Bangladesh Bank data, in the fiscal year 2021-22, about 5.15 lakh tonnes of crude soybean oil were imported into the country -- about 75,000 tonnes more than the previous year. Read US companies encouraged for oil, gas exploration in Bangladesh's offshore However, during the same period, the import of soybean seeds was 13.31 lakh tonnes, about 2.37 lakh tonnes more than the previous year. The import of refined soybean oil in the fiscal year 2021-22 was a little over 15,000 tonnes. No refined soybean oil was imported during the previous financial year. In the fiscal year 2021-22, about one million tonnes of refined and non-refined palm oil were imported.

BNP on Friday demanded the withdrawal of the government’s decision to increase the price of soybean oil, alleging the move was taken to protect the interests of the ruling quarters. “After the meeting of the mill owners with the Commerce Secretary, the price of bottled soybean oil has been increased by Tk 38 per litre, and loose soybean oil by Tk 44 per litre. The government has revealed an extremely anti-mass policy through it,” said BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir. In a statement, he said the current government has proved once again that it is “the enemy of the people” by raising the prices of soybean oil.  Stating that soybean oil is now the golden deer, the BNP leader also said the disappearance of soybean oil from the market on the eve of Eid-ul-Fitr and the hike in the prices of the edible oil are unprecedented incidents causing extreme public suffering. Also Read: Awami League carrying out 'totalitarian aggression': Fakhrul He bemoaned that people have been subjected to serious harassment and the lower and middle income people have been forced to pay extra money for soybean oil “in connivance” with the ruling party-affiliated business syndicates. “Soybean oil is a very important product as an edible oil.  It is an essential ingredient for cooking in every household.  So the main goal (behind the hike in soybean oil prices) is to make hundreds of crores of taka by controlling this daily essential product through the syndicates,” Fakhrul observed. He also said people will go through serious ordeals as the edible oil price has now gone beyond their purchasing capacity.  “The government has increased the price of soybean oil in the interest of its own people (ruling party leaders). The price of edible oil has not been increased in any of the neighboring countries,” the BNP leader observed. He said the government has taken such a decision as it does not care about the interests of the people. The BNP leader also said the government wants to keep the people captive by creating a frightening atmosphere through resorting to oppression and suppression. “I strongly condemn this anti-people decision to increase the price of soybean oil and demand the immediate withdrawal of the decision,” he said.