Staff Reporter :
The price of bottled soybean oil has been fixed Tk 160 by reducing Tk eight per liter at the retail level.
The decision was taken on Sunday after a meeting with oil producing companies at the Secretariat.
“The government has fixed the price for each litre of bottled soybean oil at Tk160 by lowering Tk eight. Besides, the price of a 5-litre bottle has been fixed at Tk760 and for non-bottled soybean oil is Tk136 per litre,” Commerce Secretary Tapan Kanti Ghosh told reporters after the meeting with officials of oil producing companies.
The new price will be effective at Mill gate from Monday till Eid-ul-Fitr, he said, adding that it would be needing five to six days to become effective at the consumer level.
Earlier on March 11, prices of edible oil had fallen by at least Tk 15 in Dhaka after the government threatened to crack down on any dishonest trader found to be manipulating the daily commodity market.
Defying government order, it was found that super palm oil was being sold for Tk 160 per kg and Tk 145 a litre in parts of the capital, including Mirpur, Barabagh and Pirerbagh. Meanwhile, traders were charging Tk 170 for a litre of soybean oil.
“The prices were much higher even a few days ago. Soybean oil cost around Tk 190-195 a litre. The price of palm oil rose to Tk 170. But wholesale prices have dropped in recent days and so we have been able to reduce the prices at our end,” Saidur Rahman, a consumer told this correspondent.
Earlier on February 6, the government decided to set a higher price ceiling by hiking the rate of soybean oil after analysing import costs and the state of the local marke. Bottled soybean oil was priced at Tk 18 per litre, while the rate for loose soybean oil was Tk 143. And the price of palm super oil was fixed at Tk 133 per litre.
But a syndicate of traders created instability in the market, which sent the prices of loose soybean oil soaring by up to Tk 50 a litre. Some traders sought to capitalise on the situation by pouring out soybean oil from bottles and selling them in the loose form.
In the circumstances, the government has decided to sell the product in bottles in an effort to curb the sales of unpacked soybean oil.
