BD rice bran oil set to make foray into global market

Apart from getting popular in the domestic market, Bangladeshi rice bran oil is now going to make foray into the global market, industry people said.
A private company is sending the first consignment of the nutrition-rich cooking oil (crude) within the next couple of months which will help the country to go global in the rice bran oil business, they said.
The healthy cooking oil is made of the bran of milled rice. It is very popular in Far East Asia and Europe as it is free from bad cholesterol but contains elements helpful for heart.
Manager of Spondon Rice Bran Oil, a leading market player in the country, Shariful Alam said popularity of the oil in the country is growing in 'a slow but steady' manner.
"Rice bran oil is now one of the key edible oils in the countries like Korea(s), Singapore, China, Japan, Vietnam, Thailand, and so on. Western countries are now consuming it as it is free from bad cholesterol," he said.
"Local consumers are being attracted to the oil which is forcing us to increase our production," he said.
He said his company is now producing 25-30 tonnes (one tonne = 1000 litres) of bran oil a day.
Apart from the super-chains, the cooking oil is now available at the mainstream groceries which is very good news, he said.
"Imported sunflower oil or rice bran oil is sold at Tk 300-500 per litre while local rice bran oil is marketed at Tk 155-160 per litre," he said.
The price of bran oil will be further reduced in coming days when production and marketing costs will also decrease, he said.    
Shariful said Bangladeshi rice bran oil has a great demand in the countries where agricultural products are exported.
"The buyers are quite eager to purchase the oil considering the quality of Bangladeshi rice," he said.
"We are going to make shipment of 40 tonnes of rice bran oil (crude) to Sri Lanka within the next two months," he said.
He informed that the government has banned export of any kind of refined cooking oil for an indefinite period to ensure a sound local supply.
According to Bangladesh Edible Oil Merchants Association, four companies namely Spondon Rice Bran Oil, White Gold Rice Bran Oil, Swarna Rice Bran Oil and KBC Rice Bran Oil are now producing 0.15 million tonnes of oil annually.
Uttam Kumar Saha, General Manager (corporate division) of Majumder Group which produces Swarna Rice Bran Oil told the FE that rice bran, the raw material of the oil, is being exported randomly to neighbouring countries.
The government should increase tax on bran export so that the local bran oil companies could get the produce at a fair price, he said.
"Bran price hovers between Tk 18 and Tk 22 per kg, which is much higher compared to those of the neighbouring countries," he said.
Mr Saha said his company is now producing 350 tonnes of oil a day due to the rising demand, he said.
He said the government should take initiatives to make people aware about the good aspects of rice bran oil.
The health department can play a vital role in making people use the oil, he said.  
He informed that rice bran oil is now selling at $ 1,400-1,500 per tonne in the global market.
Farm economist ASM Golam Hafiz Kennedy said, "We have an annual local demand of 1.8 million tonnes of cooking oil of which 90 per cent is being imported at a cost of more than $ 1.2 billion."
"The amount of import could be reduced significantly by increasing cultivation of oilseeds including mustard, soybean etc," he said.
He said: "Bangladesh has the capacity of producing 1.6-1.8 million tonnes of bran oil from nearly 8.0-10.0 million tonnes of bran the country's rice mills produce by crushing nearly 49.5 million tonnes of paddy annually".
"If local companies can ensure the maximum use of bran, import of edible oil could be curtailed," he added.