'There is nothing called edible oil refiners' syndicate'
Tuesday, 14 December 2010
In a dramatic move the edible oil suppliers and importers have agreed to sell unpacked soybean oil at lower prices at the mill-gate and in wholesale market.
The price of bottled soybean will also be re-fixed accordingly as agreed in the meeting with the Commerce Minister Faruk Khan last week, said Hefazatur Rahman, chairman of the Mostafa Group of Industries, a major industrial conglomerate in the consumer food sector.
"The edible price is sure to come down in the retail market shortly," he asserted.
He said the business leaders agreed to sit every month with the authority concerned of the government to adjust the prices of edible oil because the prices of edible oil in the local market depend on the price fluctuations in the international market.
"The total demand of edible oil in the country stands around 1.2 million metric tonnes while the local refiners have the capacity to produce more than that. So there is no reason to hike the prices unreasonably," Rahman said.
"The prices need to be reviewed as the refiners have to bring the crude oil from the global market where the crude prices fluctuate time to time," he said adding, the government agencies should also keep eye on the global price trend.
"But we have re-fixed the edible oil prices following government initiative we must abide by it, honour it for the sake of all people of the country," he opined.
Regarding allegations of price hike by the refiners' syndicate he said there is no existence of such syndicate.
"How will a syndicate work? We are all competitors of each other. Everybody will try to stay in the market with products. The Commerce Minister himself has admitted this fact and found no existence of such syndicate," he said.
The Group also deals in shrimps, shipping business, steels, paper product, stocks and securities, salt crushing, real estate, agriculture products and transport business.
Although the ship breaking industry finally resumed following a year-long state of impasse with conditional permission to a few shipyards to beach scrap ships. However, the overall situation has not improved, he said.
"The environment directorate has issued permission to only 16 shipyards while many others including that of mine are still fighting to gain clearance from the directorate," the aggrieved owner of Rahman Shipyard said.
"We have heard that the environmental NGOs are going to file another case against the booming ship breaking industry," he said.
Vested quarters are out to destroy the ship breaking industry so that it cannot flourish in this country.
"We are not against protecting environment and creating congenial working condition in the industry. But you need proper government nursing for the sector and see if anybody is working against it," the newly elected president of Bangladesh Ship Breakers Association Hefazatur Rahman said.
He said the industry can earn a lot for the national economy and give jobs to a large number of unemployed people, but there must be an appropriate policy for that.
The ship breaking industry should be recognised as an industry and be placed under the industries ministry. But it is neither under industries ministry, nor under commerce, nor under any other industry.
The Norway development and environment minister visited the ship breaking yards on 24 November along with the country's ambassador to Dhaka and DGs of the directorate of shipping and environment of the government of Bangladesh when he expressed his interest to invest in the development of the ship breaking industry, it is learnt.
The price of bottled soybean will also be re-fixed accordingly as agreed in the meeting with the Commerce Minister Faruk Khan last week, said Hefazatur Rahman, chairman of the Mostafa Group of Industries, a major industrial conglomerate in the consumer food sector.
"The edible price is sure to come down in the retail market shortly," he asserted.
He said the business leaders agreed to sit every month with the authority concerned of the government to adjust the prices of edible oil because the prices of edible oil in the local market depend on the price fluctuations in the international market.
"The total demand of edible oil in the country stands around 1.2 million metric tonnes while the local refiners have the capacity to produce more than that. So there is no reason to hike the prices unreasonably," Rahman said.
"The prices need to be reviewed as the refiners have to bring the crude oil from the global market where the crude prices fluctuate time to time," he said adding, the government agencies should also keep eye on the global price trend.
"But we have re-fixed the edible oil prices following government initiative we must abide by it, honour it for the sake of all people of the country," he opined.
Regarding allegations of price hike by the refiners' syndicate he said there is no existence of such syndicate.
"How will a syndicate work? We are all competitors of each other. Everybody will try to stay in the market with products. The Commerce Minister himself has admitted this fact and found no existence of such syndicate," he said.
The Group also deals in shrimps, shipping business, steels, paper product, stocks and securities, salt crushing, real estate, agriculture products and transport business.
Although the ship breaking industry finally resumed following a year-long state of impasse with conditional permission to a few shipyards to beach scrap ships. However, the overall situation has not improved, he said.
"The environment directorate has issued permission to only 16 shipyards while many others including that of mine are still fighting to gain clearance from the directorate," the aggrieved owner of Rahman Shipyard said.
"We have heard that the environmental NGOs are going to file another case against the booming ship breaking industry," he said.
Vested quarters are out to destroy the ship breaking industry so that it cannot flourish in this country.
"We are not against protecting environment and creating congenial working condition in the industry. But you need proper government nursing for the sector and see if anybody is working against it," the newly elected president of Bangladesh Ship Breakers Association Hefazatur Rahman said.
He said the industry can earn a lot for the national economy and give jobs to a large number of unemployed people, but there must be an appropriate policy for that.
The ship breaking industry should be recognised as an industry and be placed under the industries ministry. But it is neither under industries ministry, nor under commerce, nor under any other industry.
The Norway development and environment minister visited the ship breaking yards on 24 November along with the country's ambassador to Dhaka and DGs of the directorate of shipping and environment of the government of Bangladesh when he expressed his interest to invest in the development of the ship breaking industry, it is learnt.