The supply of soybean and palm oil has increased in Khatunganj, a wholesale market in Chittagong. However, there was an oil crisis in the retail market on Saturday. Suppliers say the supply of oil has started in the market since yesterday. It will take another day or two for supply to return to normal in the retail market.
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There are adequate reserves of oil.
After the price adjustment, buyers complained that they were not getting oil in the capital’s markets. Shopkeepers say the pre-Eid crisis is not over as supplies are low. Besides, demand orders (DOs) could not be placed in the mills as banks were closed on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. This problem will be solved if the bank opens on Sunday.
Md. Nurjahan store trader of Karwan Bazar Md. Tareq and General Store trader Masood Mahmood told Kaler Kanth, “We are waiting. However, distributors say, tomorrow (today) you can put oil in the store. ‘
Central Baddar Abdul Khaleq store businessman. Abdul Khaleq told Kaler Kantha, “When the distributors were contacted, they told us that they would get the oil soon. ‘
Sheikh Saifullah, a buyer in Madhya Baddar Bazaar, told Kaler Kantha, “I have come back in the last two days. No oil. On Friday, shopkeepers said oil could arrive on Saturday. But even today (yesterday) I am not getting oil. ‘
When asked, Citigroup Director (Corporate and Regulatory Affairs) Biswajit Saha told Kaler Kanth, “New oil prices are being supplied to the market from today (yesterday). Oil is being given to the shops by truck. We will supply enough oil to the market. Hopefully, the crisis will end in a day or two. ‘
Last Thursday, the price of bottled soybean oil was increased by Tk 36 to Tk 198 by adjusting the price of edible oil with the international market. This price has been effective since yesterday. According to the new price, five liters of bottled soybean oil will be sold at 975 rupees. Open soybean oil will be sold at Rs 160 per liter and palm oil at Rs 182 per liter.
Wholesale supply has increased
Oil-laden trucks were spotted at several yards in Khatunganj, Chittagong yesterday. However, according to the demand, the wholesalers said that it is much less.
Storekeepers sell oil in the wholesale market on the basis of supply from refineries. One of them, Shahed Ul Alam, director of RM Enterprise in Khatunganj, told Kaler Kantha, “Supply has increased. When the bank opens on Sunday, I hope the supply will start in full swing. However, it will take a day or two to become normal. ‘
The trader said, ‘If prices had been adjusted once in the week before Eid, there would not have been a crisis in the middle. No one got a chance to create a crisis. However, at the current price, no one will keep the oil. Will be coming to market soon. ‘
Edible oil trader Jamal Hossain told Kaler Kanth, “I took a truckload of open palm oil from S Alam Mill. I sent it to retail stores. However, the supply will increase from Sunday. Because so far the demand for oil in the retail market has not been so much after the Eid holidays. ‘
Retailer Mizanur Rahman of Messrs. Haque Bhandar Store, a retailer in Chittagong’s Kazir Deuri retail market, told Kaler Kantha, “Many dealers of consumer goods have come. But no oil dealer representative has come yet. If I don’t get oil, how can I sell it? ‘
Asked about the supply of oil from the refinery, Kazi Salah Uddin, senior general manager of S Alam Group, told Kaler Kanth, “Our factory is now producing 100%. At the same time supplying to the market. The government has decided to increase the price of edible oil after Eid. On that occasion, those who bought oil from us and took it to the warehouse may not have left the market in the hope of higher prices. This has created an artificial crisis in the market. ‘
Salah Uddin said, “I hope everyone will bring their oil to the market as soon as the price is fixed by the government.” Today is the first working day after the price hike. Hopefully, the supply of oil in the market will be completely normal within this week. ‘
“There is no chance of a crisis now,” Fayez Ullah, deputy director of the National Consumer Rights Protection Department in Chittagong, told Kaler Kantha. There are allegations that some warehouse keepers and DO traders have bought huge quantities of oil before Eid and stored it in various warehouses. They are removing the sticker and supplying the oil to the retail market at new prices. If a complaint is received, a mobile court will be conducted.
Image of two months import
More than 60 percent of the country’s edible oil demand is met by imports. About eight companies produce oil in refined and unrefined form and by importing seeds and breaking it down.
According to the National Board of Revenue, soybean oil imports in March and April were 92,000 tonnes, the lowest in seven years. At the same time, the companies unloaded 141,000 tons of soybean oil from the custom bonded tank terminal and took it to their factories.
Imports of palm oil also declined. In March and April, palm oil imports were two lakh 31 thousand tons. At the same time, two lakh 50 thousand tons have been marketed. At the same time last year, the import was two lakh 6 thousand tons. And the market is two lakh 96 thousand tons. All in all, both imports and marketing have declined.
