United News of Bangladesh

The government has increased the price of bottled soybean oil by Tk 14 per litre. As per the new pricing, the retail price of bottled soybean oil jumped to Tk 189 from Tk 175 per litre. Commerce Adviser SK Bashiruddin announced the decision after a meeting on the review of edible oil import, supply, and related issues at the Secretariat. The adviser said the new price of a five-litre bottle of soybean oil has been fixed at Tk 922 which was earlier Tk 852. Alongside bottled oil, the new price of loose soybean and palm oil has been fixed at Tk 169 per litre, up from Tk 157. The last hike in the price of bottled soybean oil was made on December 9. The adviser said the new prices were fixed due to developments in the international market. “We will try to bring the prices down in the coming days,” he added. Earlier, on March 27, the association of edible oil refiners wrote to the Bangladesh Trade and Tariff Commission, seeking a Tk 18 hike per litre in bottled soybean oil and Tk 13 in loose soybean and palm oil. Administration sets retail price of loose Soybean oil at Tk160 per litre in Ctg In the letter, the refiners said the exemption on import duties and taxes expired on March 31 which they cited as the reason for the proposed hike. Despite holding meetings with all stakeholders last week, the government could not reach a decision on the matter until Tuesday.

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.