Another edible oil price hike may be the last straw

The prices of edible oils, which are among the major essential commodities, hardly need any cogent reason to rise in the kitchen market. Their prices have already been edging up ahead of Eid-ul-Fitr. The per litre prices of especially unbottled soybean and palm oils have seen a rise in the kitchen markets of the city to the dismay of the general consumers already battered by high inflation and an overall rise in the cost of living. The traders, as usual, would like to attribute the increase in edible oil prices to the rising transport cost, increasing international commodity prices due to the war in the Middle East and the disruptions it caused in the supply chains, etc.
And, as if that was not enough, the oil refiners' body, the Bangladesh Vegetable Oil Refiners' and Vanaspati Manufacturers' Association (BVORVMA), meanwhile, is learnt to have made a fresh move for a significant hike in the per litre prices of edible oils by Tk 9 to Tk 13 to be made effective from tomorrow (April 9). And the proposal for the same has reportedly been submitted to the commerce ministry for its consideration. And before any official decision is made in this regard, the proposal for another upward adjustment in the edible oil prices would go through the usual process of scrutiny by the commerce ministry and the Bangladesh Trade and Tariff Commission (BTTC). Now it will be up to the government bodies concerned if they would bow to this fresh demand of the edible oil refiners' association and go for another raise in the edible oil prices. Notably, the last time official price adjustment to edible oils by the refiner companies made was in early December last year when the price of a litre of bottled soybean oil was increased by Tk.6, while that of palm oil by Tk.16. Unbottled soybean oil also saw a per litre price hike by Tk.7.
Now the refiners' proposal for another hike in the edible oil prices if effected, the price of a litre of bottled soybean oil will rise to Tk.207. In a similar fashion, the prices of loose soybean and palm oils will also go up to meet the demand of the refiners. Against this backdrop, if past experience is to go by, it is the general consumers who have invariably found themselves at the receiving end following the official deliberations. This time around, though the prices of edible oil remained rather stable during the last Ramadan, thanks perhaps to its adequate stockpile, the market behaviour changed after the Eid as the supply situation of this essential item appeared strained as reflected through its arbitrary price hike. So, what does that imply? Has the edible oil stock suddenly eroded in the meantime resulting in a tightening of its the supply and, that, too, unbeknown to the government? Were the government's monitoring activities not in place to assess the exact situation of the market? Small wonder that, the unscrupulous traders always take undue advantage of such monitoring lapse on the part of the government. In fact, the oil market operators, both in the retail and wholesale business, get away with their arbitrary hike in the edible oil prices. Going by the National Board of Revenue (NBR) data, palm oil, one of the most consumed cooking oils of the country, is procured from Indonesia and Malaysia. In that case, the argument of Middle Eastern war or its impact on supply chain does apply at least to price volatility of palm oil. So, the wholesalers' and the refiners' role, if any, in the arbitrary price hike of edible oils, as observed in the post-Eid kitchen markets, should come under proper government scrutiny. It is pertinent because a fresh plea for an official hike in prices of edible oils may prove to be the last straw for the common consumers.