Rice, soybean oil prices continue to soar in Dhaka

Prices of rice of continue to trouble buyers in Dhaka, rising by up to Tk 8 per kg in 10 days.

Staff Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 11 Dec 2020, 09:10 PM
Updated : 11 Dec 2020, 09:10 PM

Unpacked soybean oil prices have increased by up to Tk 10 per litre in this period.

The retail price of fine quality Miniket rice increased by Tk 400 to Tk 3,100 per sack of 50 kg. Prices of coarse varieties of rice also rose by Tk 1 or Tk 2 per kg.

Haji Mohiuddin, a wholesaler at Mirpur-1, and retailer Ferdous Monwar of Pirerbagh, said on Friday that rice prices have increased to the highest level in two to three years.

Rahmat Ullah, a trader in Agargaon, said he heard that a rise in paddy price has made rice  costlier.

When the government decided to procure rice at Tk 37 per kg and paddy at Tk 26 per kg in the current Amon season, the mill owners declined to sell at the fixed prices.

They claim they will suffer losses if they sell the grain at the fixed prices.

In this situation, the government has recently begun importing 100,000 tonnes of rice at Tk 34.35 from India.

Wholesale prices of packaged soybean oil rose by up to Tk 100 to Tk 567 per bottle of five litres in a month, said grocer Shaheen Mia of Pirerbagh.

he maximum retail price of a five-litre bottle of soybean oil was Tk 630 on Friday. The prices of unpacked soybean oil have increased by Tk 10 per litre to Tk 115 in a week, he said.

Citing mill owners, Mohammad Golam Mawla, president of Bangladesh Wholesale Edible Oil Traders Association, said the prices increased due to a rise in prices in the international market.

According to the Trading Corporation of Bangladesh, prices of fine varieties of rice have increased by 6.36 percent in a year, medium quality rice by 10.20 percent and coarse varieties 30.14 percent.

Unpacked soybean oil prices have increased by 23.64 percent in this period, one-litre bottle by 12.20 percent and five-litre bottle by 10.22 percent.