Edible oil prices to rise by Tk 8 a litre

The prices of soybean and palm oil are set to increase by up to Tk 8 per litre from Saturday.

The efiners have decided to increase prices on the ground of increasing import costs.

One litre bottle of soybean now costs Tk 160 while the same bottle will cost Tk 168 from Saturday.

Bangladesh Vegetables Oil Refiners' and Vanaspati Manufacturers Association sent a letter in this regard to the senior secretary of the commerce ministry on January 3.

The association said it wanted to increase prices of the essential commodity from December 3 last year but refrained from hiking prices considering the purchasing capacity of the commoners.

But it is not possible to maintain the current prices in view of import costs, the letter added.

Maximum retail prices of 5-litre bottle of soybean oil would be Tk 800 from Saturday while people are paying up to Tk 750 to buy 5-litre bottle of soybean oil at retails in Dhaka right now.

The prices were 29 per cent higher from Tk 540-Tk 580 the same day a year ago, according to the Trading Corporation of Bangladesh.

Bangladesh annually consumes nearly 20 lakh tonnes of edible oil and it has to import 90 per cent of the vegetable oil to meet domestic requirement, according to Bangladesh Trade and Tariff Commission.

The association also decided to increase prices of palm oil, according to the letter to the commerce ministry.