Soybean oil price drops by Tk14 per litre
Edible oil at new rates will be marketed from Tuesday
The Bangladesh Vegetable Oil Refiners and Vanaspati Manufacturers Association has reduced the price of bottled soybean oil by Tk14 per litre.
Previously, a litre of bottled soybean oil was priced at Tk192, which is now reduced to Tk178, said a press release from the association Monday (3 October).
The price of loose soybean oil has been reduced from Tk175 to Tk158 per litre. Besides, the price of a five-litre bottle of soybean oil has been reduced to Tk880, said the press release.
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Edible oil producing and marketing companies will market oil at new rates from 4 October (Tuesday).
Earlier, on 22 August, the companies had increased the price by Tk7 to Tk192.
Currently, a number of companies including TK Group, Meghna Group, City Group, and Bashundhara are marketing soybean and palm oils.
Regarding price reduction, Meghna Group Senior Assistant General Manager Taslim Shahriar told TBS, "This is an ongoing process and millers do such things regularly. When the import price goes down, we adjust the retail price immediately. We not only increase prices but also reduce them, when appropriate."
Industry insiders said the prices of soybean and palm oil started to soar in the international market due to the Russia-Ukraine war. Later, the prices started decreasing during the last one and a half months, but due to the instability of the dollar market, the companies were not able to reduce the edible oil prices as they had to open letters of credits (LCs) at a higher rate.
On Monday, City Group Chairman Fazlur Rahman, Meghna Group Chairman Mostafa Kamal and TK Group Managing Director Mohammad Mustafa Haider met Prime Minister's Private Industry and Investment Adviser Salman F Rahman and Senior Secretary M Tofazzel Hossain Miah as representatives of edible oil manufacturers. The industry groups agreed on the reduction of oil prices in that meeting.
The edible oil producers also discussed the hike in dollar price and complexities regarding opening LCs in Monday's meeting with the prime minister's private industry and investment adviser.
