Concerned parties fear that the ongoing crisis of soybean oil may destabilize the market in the upcoming month of Ramadan. It is said that soybean oil has suddenly disappeared from the market. A trader is making the sale of soybean oil conditional on the buyer buying another product. Market stakeholders say that the government should take effective initiatives to deal with the soybean oil crisis by investigating now ahead of Ramadan.
It has been found that there has been a shortage of soybean oil in the market for quite some time. As per demand, wholesalers and retailers are not getting supply. Against the demand of 100 liters of soybean oil, mills are getting 10 to 20 liters. Traders have complained that the mill owners have reduced the supply. As a result, the oil crisis in the market is increasing. Those concerned fear that if this continues, the crisis of edible oil in the upcoming Ramadan may destabilize the entire market.
It is known that the price of crude soybean oil has increased in the world market. This incident happened mainly with edible oil in the country due to not being able to coordinate with that price. In such a situation, the importers of edible oil are worried that if the price of soybean is not adjusted, they will not be able to get the right price. Fearing loss, many importers have not opened Soyabean oil import LCs. Due to this decrease in imports, there has been a shortage in supply. Although importers deny it, there is no shortage of edible oil in the country, supply is normal.
Meanwhile, the government is taking various initiatives to keep the supply and price of soybean oil normal. As part of this, Value Added Tax (MUSAC) has been withdrawn at production and supply level to keep cooking oil prices affordable. The government has also reduced taxes on imports, market supervision has also been increased. On the other hand, efforts are being made to maintain the supply of soybean oil in the market through TCB. Every week the government's procurement advisory committee meeting is approving the proposal to import soybean oil for TCB.
Big traders of edible oil say that due to various reasons, the import of soybean oil in the country is decreasing day by day – may not have been taken into consideration. They allege that the information that the government's supervisory agencies are now providing regarding imports is basically old information from the past seven to eight months. This is sending a 'wrong' message that there is sufficient stock of soybean oil in the country. It has nothing to do with reality.
A visit to various markets in the capital showed that soybean oil and palm oil have increased by Tk 5 per liter in the span of a week, showing the existing shortage of soybean oil. Currently open palm oil is selling at Tk 160 to Tk 162 and soybean oil at Tk 170 to Tk 175 per litre. And bottled soybeans are not available in many stores. A liter of bottled soybean oil is sold at Tk 167 to Tk 170 in some shops. The same soybean oil is being sold at Tk 175 to Tk 180 depending on the place.
Unable to overcome the global recession, several groups in the country have withdrawn from the edible oil market, importers said. The global market volatility of 2008 and 2012 has hit the major importers of edible oil, Citi and Meghna Shilpa Group. But they have managed to overcome the shock as they have more business. In this case, the country's banks have also cooperated with them. These importers are cautious in importing soybeans and palm oil this year.
Several representatives of these companies told the Bangla Tribune on condition of anonymity that this soybean oil crisis has been going on for quite some time. From the beginning of the crisis, there was a need for the government to monitor whether the opening rate of letters of credit (LC) and import conditions were normal. Along with this, by monitoring the world market, the businessmen could have been warned so that they keep the imports normal. If necessary, government agencies could import edible oil through private organizations and procure it. For example, during the onion crisis in the country in the past, due to the government's special support, the market was kept normal.
They said that the edible oil market is currently unstable due to several reasons. The dollar crisis is still ongoing in the country. Importers are not importing edible oil as before. The price of edible oil in the world market has also increased more than before. Due to these reasons, the price of edible oil is on the rise. In the history of the country, the price of palm oil has not increased like this time. Mainly due to production crisis in Indonesia, 5 percent increase in palm oil consumption in biodiesel, bookings of the product in the international market have increased to a record amount.
When asked to know, General Secretary of Consumers Association of Bangladesh, Advocate Humayun Kabir Bhuia said, dishonest business syndicates are making various kinds of scams in the hope of making immoral profits around Ramadan. If the interest can be achieved before the start of Ramadan without increasing the price during Ramadan, what is wrong with that? The authorities should look into this matter from now on.
Finance advisor. Salehuddin Ahmed said, we are easily approving the government procurement proposals to keep the supply of daily commodities normal. Soybean oil procurement proposal to keep TCB operational is also being passed. I don't think there is a crisis here.
Commerce Secretary Moha in this context. Salim Uddin said that the matter is under the government's attention. Monitoring is going on in the market for this. Also normal in the import process. So the problem will be solved soon. Hopefully, there will be no shortage of edible oil during Ramadan.
Note that according to the information of the Trade and Tariff Commission, the annual demand of imported soybean oil in the country is 2.2 million tons. However, in the last financial year 2023-24, 23 lakh tonnes were imported.
