Prices of edible oil, sugar fall in Khatunganj

The prices of edible oil and sugar fell in Khatunganj, a wholesale market for consumer goods owing to a fall in booking prices in the international market.

The price of edible oil dropped by Tk200 and sugar by Tk100, which importers and wholesalers attributed to a slight decrease in the booking prices.

Palm oil price per maund (40.90 litres) dropped to Tk6,800 from Tk7,000 last Thursday in the market.

Similarly, soybean was sold at Tk7,500 a week ago and it has now reached Tk7,300 at the wholesale market.

Besides edible oil, the prices of other consumer goods like sugar also fell. Per maund (37.32 kg) of sugar was being sold at Tk2,730 in the market yesterday, down from Tk2,830 a week ago.

Abdur Razzak, proprietor of Messrs. Ismail Traders, said prices of most consumer goods have been volatile in the market for a long time. Meanwhile, prices of some essential commodities, including edible oil, sugar and wheat have doubled in the last one-and-a-half years. However, in the last one week, the prices of edible oil and sugar, two essential commodities, have come down a bit.

Consumer importer Messrs. RM Enterprise proprietor Alamgir Parvez said due to the unusual increase in prices, trade of some products in the wholesale market have come to a standstill.

As traders think prices of most products are at their highest and may fall anytime, they are carefully selling the products.

He also attributed the fall in price to a slowdown in demand.

Asked about the fall in prices of edible oil in the international market, the importer said that in the last one month, the price of edible oil in the international market, especially soybean, has come down by Tk200 per tonne, but due to the prevailing global crisis of edible, the decline may not last long.

Parvez also said the edible oil booked in the downward trending market will come after more than a month so the price in the domestic market has not changed much.