Soybean oil - one of the most widely used and cheapest cooking oil in the world has been selling for Tk200 per litre in Bangladesh for weeks and now demand has completely outstripped supply.
Most kitchen markets and supermarkets have completely run out and cannot say when shelves will be restocked.
Sellers at many kitchen markets in Dhaka say that wholesalers have not supplied soybean oil to retailers yet because they have not received their shipment from the importers.
“I have been seeing people search for soybean oil all day on Saturday,” said a seller at a kitchen market.
Ripon Hossain, a resident of Kallyanpur, said that after visiting eight to ten stores in Kallyanpur, Mirpur and Paikpara area, he couldn’t find a single bottle of soybean oil.
“There is no soybean oil in the super shops, or even in online grocery stores like Chaldal,” he said.
“There are alternatives like sunflower oil, rice bran oil, and olive oil available in the stores but the middle class cannot afford those prices. But the price of soybean oil is gradually reaching that level anyway,” he added.
The owner of Banik Enterprise at Kallyanpur, explained that suppliers failed to deliver soybean oil to retailers like him, as the supply ran out just before Eid-ul-Fitr last week.
“We had to buy (soybean) oil at a high price at the end of Ramadan, so we had to sell it at a much higher price. But we could get enough oil to meet demand and that is why I have none in stock,” he added.
However, several retailers of Shah Ali Bazar of Mirpur said they could not submit their demand orders (DOs) as the banks were closed on Friday and Saturday.
They also said that after depositing DO money in the bank on Sunday, it will be available.
Hasan Mahmud, a resident of Paikpara area, said that he did not get oil even before Eid. His family had to make do with previous stock.
“After the announcement of the price hike, I thought that oil will be available. But there is no cooking oil at any store. In fact, a certain syndicate has taken ordinary consumers as hostages,” he added.
He also blamed lax market monitoring by the government behind the price hike.
"Concerned authorities only raid retail stores but not the mill owners’ warehouses. Perhaps they don't have goodwill, or they can't cope with the influence of mill owners,” Mahmud said.
Parveen Akhter, a resident of Tolarbagh area of Mirpur, said she went to almost all the stores in her area to find some soybean oil but could not find any.
“There is no soybean oil anywhere. Stores were asking Tk1,100-1800 for a five litre bottle of sunflower oil while a 5-litre bottle of rice bran oil is selling for Tk900-Tk1000, and a 5-litre bottle of olive oil is selling for Tk5,000.
“How am I supposed to afford that with my meager income?” she asked.
Prices of other kinds of cooking oil also shoot up
Meanwhile, the price of mustard oil is also skyrocketing, with a litre of mustard oil being sold at Tk280-300.
Retailers and many consumers have complained that the importers and manufacturers created an artificial crisis in the market by hoarding cooking oil.
However, importers denied the allegations.
An official of City Group said that as the price of oil is high in the international market, the price has been adjusted in the meeting with the commerce ministry in the local market.
He also said that there is no shortage of soybean oil in the market as the oil supply is normal.
The officials also said that some retailers could stockpile oil until prices hike. As the new soybean oil prices have been functional, the oil crisis in the retail market will be over in the coming three or four days.
Earlier, the Bangladesh Vegetable Oil Refiners and Vanaspati Manufacturers Association (BVOVMA) raised the retail price of bottled soybean oil by Tk38 per litre.
With the price hike, the maximum retail price of each litre of soybean oil is Tk198 now.
At the same time, loose soybean oil will be sold at Tk180 per litre and palm oil price will be Tk172 per litre.
The new rates have been effective since Friday.
The Ministry of Commerce on Thursday approved the rate of cooking oil submitted by the BVOVMA before the Eid holiday.
