Oil is not available before Ramadan.
The holy month of Ramadan is starting in two weeks. Meanwhile, the soybean oil market is in a state of flux. Refining companies say there is no shortage. On the contrary, the supply of soybean oil in the market has increased. There are about 150,000 more tons in the pipeline for the upcoming Ramadan. However, a different picture is seen in the market. Even though the price has increased, the supply has not normalized.
No shop has five-liter bottles, no shop has one-two liter bottles. Some have completely disappeared. As a result, consumers have to go from shop to shop in search of this product necessary for daily cooking. Even if bottles are available, they have to buy them at a higher price. Ordinary consumers are angry at such suffering in the edible oil market. On the other hand, retailers are facing an embarrassing situation as they are not getting the required bottles from dealers.
On Wednesday, private sector employee Md. Enamul Haque visited at least 7 shops in the capital’s Kadamtali Saddam Market area and could not find a two-liter bottle. He finally bought one liter of open oil. When asked, Enamul said, “Every shop I go to says they don’t have bottles. The company is not giving them. There were a few 5-liter bottles in two shops, but I couldn’t buy them because I didn’t have enough money in my pocket.” He said with regret, “This is the situation before Ramadan! Is there no one to look after them?” He also asked questions like this.
Md. Shajahan Mia, a retailer in the area, said, “We are not getting bottles from the company even after asking. Even regular customers need some bottles, but we are not getting even that much. As a result, customers are also going to other shops. Some are also telling different things. The company is trying to increase the price. And we are facing an embarrassing situation.”
According to the Bangladesh Trade and Tariff Commission (BTTC), the annual demand for edible oil in the country is 2.3 to 2.4 million tons. The demand is higher during Ramadan – 1.8 million to 3 million tons.
Trade Advisor Sheikh Bashiruddin also spoke about the soybean crisis in the market. He said at a press conference at the conference room of the Ministry of Shipping at the Secretariat yesterday, “Among the Ramadan products, there is only one problem with oil. I hope that the oil market will go from stable to down in the next seven to ten days and the supply shortage will be eliminated.”
The same picture is also seen in the capital’s Karwan Bazar and Malibagh Bazar. Traders say that companies are doing this in the same way as before to increase the price. The soybean oil supply in the market is running out in a flash. Many traders are not even getting bottles.
Md. Solaiman Hossain, a retailer at Biplob Store in Malibagh Bazar, said, “We don’t get bottles from the companies. Even if we get some, the dealers give us packets of rice with ‘must’. We have to buy it. We are in trouble about this.”
Zakir Hossain, a trader at a beauty store in Karwan Bazar’s Kitchen Market, said, “Despite the price increase, the dealers have not increased the supply. The amount of oil that enters the market runs out in a flash. Many shopkeepers are not even getting it.”
The supply of oil has also decreased in Moulvibazar, the capital’s main market for open soybean oil. This has happened because there is not enough supply as before and the price is also high, said Golam Mawla, president of the Bangladesh Edible Oil Traders Association. Although the refining companies are claiming the opposite, the supply in the market has increased compared to before. Not only that, they said that more edible oil is in the pipeline for the upcoming Ramadan. Representatives of the country’s domestic edible oil refining factories said this at a meeting held at the BTC office on Sunday to review the supply situation of edible oil.
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