Soya bean oil price should be Tk 67, not Tk 82: BTC

Bangladesh Tariff Commission (BTC) in its latest analysis has observed that the retail price of unpacked soya bean oil should be Tk 67.10 a litre and that of bottled soya bean oil Tk 82 a litre. But the unpacked soya bean oil is being retailed at Tk 80-Tk 82 a litre and the bottled one at Tk 93-Tk 100 a litre. The commission on June 9 sent its assessment report, which was prepared based on the data on import prices of raw and refined oils and processing and marketing costs, to the commerce ministry, an official of the ministry said. The official said, ‘We have received the report but it will be difficult to implement the prices recommended by Tariff Commission as five to six big and influential companies control the edible oil market in the country.’ Commerce minister Tofail Ahmed, however, could not be reached despite repeated attempts over phone on Monday. Tariff Commission calculated the prices of edible oil considering the average price of letters of credit for one month, bond price for one month and out of bond price for seven days. Under the methodology, the average price of crude degummed soya bean oil stood at Tk 55,209 a tonne while the price of crude palm oil stood at Tk 51,975 a tonne, the Tariff Commission’s study report showed. The report showed that after processing the price of refined soya bean stood at Tk 67,907 a tonne and that of palm oil at Tk 57,173 a tonne. The prices (including one per cent profit) of refined soya bean oil and palm oil at the mill gate stood at Tk 63.10 a litre and Tk 53.13 a litre respectively. After adding Tk 2 a litre in profit for distributor and Tk 2 a litre in profit for retailer, the retail price of unpacked soya bean oil should be Tk 67.10 a litre while the price of palm oil Tk 57.13 a litre, the report said. Tariff Commission estimated that after including the cost of bottle the price of soya bean oil should be TK 82 for a one-litre bottle and Tk 386 for a five-litre bottle. The bottled soya bean oil (five litres) was being sold at Tk 450- Tk 480 on the retail market, the report showed. According to the Trading Corporation of Bangladesh data, palm oil is being retailed at Tk 61- Tk 63 a litre. According to a separate study report of Tariff Commission, Bangladesh imports 13 lakh tonnes of edible oil against yearly demand of 15 lakh tonnes. State minister for finance MA Mannan unveiled the report in an event at the commission’s office in the city on Monday. In the study, the commission said that there was a scope for exporting rice bran oil through increasing paddy production. The report ‘an analysis of assistance to edible oil manufacturing industry and examining export possibilities’ also recommended encouraging farmers to produce mustard oil. News Courtesy: www.newagebd.net