Bangladesh's edible oil market heats up despite global price decline

Published 2021년 11월 10일

Tridge summary

The article highlights a disturbing trend in Bangladesh's domestic market, where the prices of edible oils, particularly palm and soybean oil, are experiencing a significant increase despite a decrease in international prices. This anomaly is attributed to manipulation and local trade practices by importers and wholesalers, causing concerns about market integrity and fair pricing.

The article provides data from Khatunganj, the country's largest wholesale market for consumer goods, where palm oil prices have risen by Tk450 per maund in a week, reaching Tk5,050, and soybean oil prices have increased by Tk460 per maund in a week, reaching Tk5,460. These increases contradict the downward trend in international prices, raising questions about the efficiency of the supply chain and the motives behind the local price hikes.

Stakeholders like Abdur Razzak, an edible oil trader, and Mohammad Alamgir, an importer, offer differing perspectives on the situation. Razzak accuses a syndicate of importers and wholesalers of manipulating the market, while Alamgir attributes the price discrepancy to a delay in importing newer batches of oil at lower prices and suggests that it may take several weeks for the local market to adjust to the lower international prices.

Zia Uddin, an edible oil trader, emphasizes the immediate impact of international price changes on local markets but points out that reducing local prices is a slow process, implying a systemic issue with the local market's response to global price fluctuations. This situation underscores the complex challenges faced in ensuring stable and fair edible oil prices for Bangladeshi consumers, with concerns about market manipulation and the need for improved transparency and efficiency in the supply chain.

Disclaimer:The above summary was generated by Tridge's proprietary AI model for informational purposes.

Original content

The price of edible oil has been on the rise in the domestic market, although its price has come down a lot in the international market. In the international market, palm oil price came down by Tk309 per maund in the last week, but instead of decreasing, its price has gone up by Tk450 in the domestic market. Traders said despite the reduction in booking prices in the international market, the price of edible oil is increasing at Khatunganj, the largest wholesale market for consumer goods in the country, due to manipulation by importers and wholesalers. On Tuesday, per maund (40.90 kg) of palm oil was sold at Tk5,050 in Khatunganj, which was Tk4,600 only a week ago. As such, the price of per maund of palm oil has gone up by Tk450 in a week. According to traders, at present, TK Group's Bay Fishing Palm Oil is selling at Tk5,050 per maund, S Alam's at Tk5,040 while City Group, Meghna Group and Bashundhara Group's palm oil at Tk5,030 per maund. Along with palm oil, the price of palm ...

Source: TBS