Edible oil price falls by 26pc in global market, no move in Bangladesh

The price of crude soybean oil decreased by 26 per cent in the global market but initiative to lower the local price is not in sight yet.

The price of crude soybean oil decreased by 26 per cent in the global market but initiative to lower the local price is not in sight yet.

Bangladesh imports large quantities of soybean oil from Argentina, a South American country. The price of crude soybean oil imported from the country has decreased in the last one month.

The Bangladesh Trade and Tariff Commission (BTTC) calculated that the price of crude soybean oil in Argentina last Wednesday was $1,464 per tonne, which was $1,970 per tonne just a month ago.

This means that the price of crude soybean oil has dropped by about 26 per cent in one month.

Not just soybean oil, the trend of rising commodity prices in the world market has now started to decline. Prices of rice, edible oil, wheat, sugar and lentils are decreasing.

But the Ministry of Commerce is yet to take any move for adjusting soybean oil prices with the global market.

Mostafa Abid Khan, former member of BTTC said the price decrease of essential commodities in the global market is good news for Bangladesh. But the unstable exchange rate of the US dollar is a factor in the price adjustment of commodities and edible oil.

Meanwhile, prices of some commodities have decreased in the wholesale market, whose effect is yet to seen in the retail market, he said.