TCB to start subsidised soybean oil sale from next week

Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB) will start selling soybean oil at a subsidised rate from next week to ease the acute crisis of edible oil in the market.

Although the exact sale price of oil has not been fixed yet, it will most likely be between Tk 140 to Tk 160 per litre, according to an official of the commerce ministry.

The decision was taken at a meeting in the commerce ministry on Sunday. Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi attended the meeting along with Senior Commerce secretary Tapan Kanti Ghosh, and TCB Chairman Brigadier General Md Ariful Hassan.

After the meeting, the TCB chairman told the Business Insider Bangladesh that they are all set for the Open Market Sale (OMS) of soybean oil from next week. “The exact selling price will be disclosed by the commerce minister at a press conference tomorrow.”

Unsold soybean oil that was supplied for one crore cardholder families will be brought to Dhaka in a couple of days, he said.

However, Hassan couldn’t tell the exact amount of oil that remains with the corporation from that stock.

Regarding stocking soybean oil to avoid such a crisis, he said it is not possible because it takes five months to import oil due to bureaucratic complexities.

Edible oil crisis:

Earlier on March 16, the government reduced the value added tax on the import of soybean and palm oil to 5 percent from the previous 15 percent.

However, on May 6, days after Eid-ul-Fitr, the government hiked the price of edible oil. A litre of bottled soybean oil was increased to Tk 198 per litre, up from Tk 160, and loose oil at Tk 180 a litre, up from Tk 136.

Meanwhile, the commerce ministry has been trying to bring in palm oil from alternative sources like Malaysia and the USA as its main producer Indonesia banned exports of its refined and crude versions from April 28.

Bangladesh sources 85 percent of its annual requirement of 11 lakh tonnes of crude palm oil from Indonesia.

The government increased the rates based on the base price of imported crude oil at $1,750 a tonne, up from the previous rates of $1,400 for soybean oil and $1,300 for palm oil.