Soybean oil price rises Tk 5 to Tk 204 per litre in Bangladesh

The price of bottled soybean oil has been increased by Tk 5 per litre to Tk 204.

Commerce Secretary Md Ataur Rahman Khan announced the new price at an emergency briefing on edible oil at the Secretariat on Tuesday, according to a media statement from the ministry.

The briefing was still under way when this report was filed.

The latest increase comes less than three months after the government raised the price of soybean oil by Tk 4 per litre to Tk 199 on Apr 29.

At the time, the price of a five-litre bottle of soybean oil was set at Tk 975.

The government also raised the price of loose soybean oil by Tk 4 to Tk 180 per litre, while leaving the price of palm oil unchanged.

Prices of loose soybean oil began rising after imports of crude edible oil were disrupted by the war in the West Asia.

However, on Apr 12, Commerce Minister Khandakar Abdul Muktadir had urged consumers not to panic unnecessarily, saying there was an "adequate" supply of edible oil in the market.

Although the minister had indicated at the time that prices would not be raised, the government later reversed that decision.

Earlier, on Oct 14 last year, the Bangladesh Vegetable Oil Refiners and Vanaspati Manufacturers Association announced increases of Tk 6 per litre for bottled soybean oil and Tk 8 for loose soybean oil.

The association, representing edible oil producers and refiners, also announced a Tk 13 per litre increase in the price of loose palm oil at the time.

Under those prices, bottled soybean oil was sold at Tk 195 per litre, up from Tk 189, while loose soybean oil was priced at Tk 176 per litre, compared with Tk 169 previously.

The price of a five-litre bottle of soybean oil was also increased by Tk 25 at the time to Tk 945.

The price of loose palm oil was set at Tk 163 per litre.