22.9 million litre soybean oil arrives at Chittagong port

Amid growing demand, a huge quantity of imported edible oil has arrived at the Chittagong port from Singapore and Indonesia.

According to Chittagong Port Authority (CPA), around 22.9 million litres of soybean oil has arrived at Chittagong port and 13,000 tons of palm oil tankers will arrive at the port on Friday.

It is learned that a ship named 'MV Orient Challenge' carrying 22 million litres of crude soybean oil from Singapore arrived at Chittagong port on April 26. On the other hand, the 13,000 tonne palm oil carrier 'MT Sumatra Palm' is scheduled to arrive at Chittagong port on Friday (May 6). The Indonesian-flagged ship sailed from the Indonesian port of Lubuk Geang on April 26, the Marine Traffic has provided this information on its own website.

CPA Secretary Umar Farooq told reporters that a ship arrived at Chittagong Port from Singapore last Thursday carrying oil.

The country's top four companies City Group, Sena Kalyan Edible Oil, Bangladesh Edible Oil and Bashundhara Group have imported the oil. The process of unloading imported oil has already begun, he said.

On the other hand, Kazi Abu Naeem, general manager of Mohammadi Trading Company Limited, the local agent of the Indonesian ship in Bangladesh, said that the MV Sumatra Palm ship will arrive in Chittagong port on Friday.

Indonesia is the world's top exporter of palm oil. About 90 per cent of Bangladesh's required palm oil is usually imported from Indonesia. The country (Indonesia) has banned palm oil exports since midnight on April 28.

According to Chittagong Customs, the country's top importers brought about 120,000 tonnes of palm oil in April before the Indonesian government's ban on palm oil export. Bangladesh imports about 1.3 million tonnes of palm oil annually. 90 per cent of these are imported from Indonesia. The remaining 10 per cent comes from Malaysia.