Edible oil prices fall in city markets

The prices of edible oils, including soybean and palm, fell slightly over the last five days in the city's kitchen markets, giving consumers some sort of relief.

The fall in prices of these items at mill-gates helped reduce their prices in the kitchen markets, traders said.

The edible oil prices increased notably last month, though these were stable in the global market and the volume of local imports was also good.

The prices of palm oil and super palm oil declined by Tk 2-4 a litre in last five days in the city markets. The prices now stand at Tk 76-78 a litre and Tk 84-86 a litre respectively.

Besides, the price of loose soybean oil reduced by Tk 4-6 per litre to Tk 106-110 per litre. The price of bottled soybean oil of different brands also dropped by Tk 1-2 per litre. The price of soybean oil in five-litre containers is now at Tk 565-570 each.

A retailer said the price of loose soybean oil at the Moulovibazar wholesale market in the city reduced to Tk 3,450-3,500 per maund (37.32 kg) from Tk 3,600-3,650 per maund a week back.

"Traders have told us that the supply of soybean oil has increased, and its price has reduced in the mill-gates," he added.

A trader at Moulovibazar said super palm oil was sold at Tk 2,870-2,900 per maund now against Tk 2,950-3,000 per maund a few days back.

"The oil prices totally depend on refiners (importers or mill owners). Often the transport condition from Chittagong to Dhaka also creates an impact on prices," he said.

Md Golam Mawla, president of Bangladesh Edible Oil Wholesale Merchants' Association, told the FE that edible oil prices increased slightly at the retail level last month due to their supply shortage caused by the lack of transports and traffic congestions in Chittagong.

"At present supply of edible oils has increased significantly, lowering their prices," he added.

An official at the Department of Agricultural Marketing (DAM) told the FE that price of soybean was now hovering between $910 and 928 per tonne in the international market. The prices had been almost static for the last nine months.

According to the Malaysian Palm Oil Council, palm oil price is now showing a downtrend. It was $766-770 per tonne on May 21 against $800-820 per tonne at the end of April.

The domestic demand for edible oil and fat is nearly 1.8 million tonnes, of which the country imports 1.7 million tonnes, mainly from Malaysia, the US and Brazil.