Palm oil price double now compared to global mkt

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FE Report brPrice of palm oil at the local market is almost double now compared with the international market rate due mainly to the lack of proper monitoring. brIts price ranged between Tk 95.00 and Tk 80.00 per litre Wednesday against a cost of Tk 49 after refining imported crude, according to the market operators. brMalaysian crude palm oil traded between 2,376 and 2,350 Malaysian ringgit per tonne in the international markets in recent days. brAn analyst at a Singapore-based brokerage firm Tuesday predicted that the palm oil price could fall to 2,200 ringgit per tonne. The firm also sees a trading range of 2200-2500 ringgit in the next two months. brMeanwhile, some commercial banks advised their clients to maintain a go-slow strategy for opening fresh letters of credit (LCs) for palm oil and wheat imports to avoid possible financial risk in the near future.brWe've discouraged our clients for import of palm oil and wheat because of declining trend in prices of the essential commodities in the global market, a senior official of a private commercial bank told the FE Wednesday. brHe also said the opening of fresh LCs for palm oil and wheat import declined recently due mainly to falling trend in prices of the commodities in the international market. brThe opening of LCs for wheat dropped by US$35.24 million to $58.53 million in terms of value while edible oil by $68.33 million to $ 42.01 million during August last compared with the corresponding period of the previous year, according the central bank statistics. brChairman of task force on market monitoring of the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) Kamaluddin Ahmed told the FE that the palm oil was mostly imported at least three months back at higher rates. brThe FBCCI leader, however, said the palm oil importers have to pay, in addition, Tk 15 for value added tax (VAT), Tk 5.0 for the loss in processing and Tk 5.0 for distribution and transport costs, brThere is no scope for reducing the price of the palm oil shortly, the FBCCI director said, adding the fixation of price of the essential depends on the import cost. brMarket operators, however, said the price of the essential is expected to stabilise if the government takes necessary measures through using its different tools like strengthening monitoring system of both price and supply.br