Edible oil prices jump in wholesale market

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FE Report
The prices of edible oil increased by more than Tk 200 per maund in the wholesale market over the past one week. As a result, the retail prices are feared to rise substantially, market operators said.
The wholesale price of edible oil was recorded at Tk 3020 per maund on Saturday while it was sold at Tk 2800 before the Eid festival.
The sudden rise in wholesale prices of edible oil, however, did not affect the retail prices immediately and were selling between Tk 82 and Tk 86 Saturday. But, markets operators told the FE that retail prices of the same might rise shortly following the wholesale price escalation.
President of Moulvibazar Paikary Bebosayaee Somity (Moulvibazar whole sale merchants association) Abdur Razzak told the FE that millers had been raising prices of the same over the past few days following the price-hike of the item in the international market.
"The wholesale prices stood at Tk 3020 per maund," Razzak said adding: "wholesale traders are selling from their inventory".
However, international prices for palm oil ranged between US$ 935 and $ 940 each tonne and soybean at $ 970 and $ 980 each tonne.
Fakhrul Alam, president of Malaysian Palm Oil Council Bangladesh told the FE that international prices of edible oil had been rising over the past few weeks as the developed nations were using vegetable oil as alternate fuel for their vehicles.
He said prices of edible oil and fuel oil are directly linked. "We are noticing that prices of edible oil have been rising in line with the price-hike of petroleum oil," he added.
Currently, the price of petroleum oil was hovering around $ 90 each barrel and demand for substitutes in the form of vegetable oil was also rising sharply in the developed nations.
Tariq Ahmed of TK Group - a local edible oil refiner told the FE that price rise in the whole sale level was the reflection of international price hike of the item.
He hinted that the surge in the edible oil price would continue for the next eight to nine months.
"I don't know what will happen when the petroleum prices reach $ 100 a barrel," he added.
In the meantime, price of onion still remains high in the local markets and is selling between Tk 54 and Tk 65 each kilogram.
The prices of Indian variety ranged between Tk 52 and Tk 58 and local variety between Tk 54 and Tk 65 each kilogram.