The prices of most of the commodities, including soya bean oil, rice, atta and sugar, remained high on the kitchen markets in the Dhaka city over the week ending Friday.
Soya bean oil has once again disappeared from most of the grocery shops and retailers in many areas in the Dhaka city as businesses allegedly decreased supply of the daily essential after submitting a proposal to the government to hike the price of the commodity, small-scale traders said.
The shops and retailers suffered the same crisis in April before a price increase of soya bean oil.
Bangladesh Vegetable Oil Refiners and Banaspati Manufacturers Association on November 1 sent a letter to commerce ministry senior secretary Tapan Kanti Ghosh and proposed increasing soya bean oil prices by Tk 15 a litre, citing a rise in the prices of commodity on the international market.
After the letter was submitted, refiners and wholesalers decreased the supply of edible oil with a hope of readjustment of prices of the commodity soon, small-scale traders alleged.
‘The supply of soya bean oil almost halved in the past three days and distributers said that the price of the item would increase within a few days,’ Zakir Hossain, manager of Hazi Mizan Store at Kawran Bazar, told New Age on Friday.
Along with the supply shortage, the prices of soya bean oil also increased in the city.
Nazrul Islam, a private service holder who lives in Mohammadpur in the city, said that soya bean oil almost disappeared from grocery shops in the city.
‘I have visited shops one after another in my area, but soya bean oil is not found. Later, I have bought a two-litre bottle of soya bean oil from the Mohammadpur Krishi Bazar,’ he said.
The commerce ministry and the edible oil refiners on October 3 announced the revised price of packaged soya bean oil at Tk 178 a litre, lowering Tk 14 a litre.
The ministry also announced the price of a five-litre container of soya bean oil at Tk 880, unpackaged soya bean oil to Tk 158 a litre and palm oil at Tk 133 a litre.
Edible oil was mostly retailing at higher prices than the government-set rate for the past one week on the markets in the city.
The prices of soya bean oil increased by Tk 5 a litre and unpackaged soya bean oil sold for Tk 170–175 a litre in the city.
Packaged soya bean oil sold for Tk 180–185 a litre in the city on Friday.
A five-litre container of soya bean oil was sold for Tk 880 on the day.
The prices of rice remained high and the coarse variety of rice sold for Tk 50–55 a kilogram in the capital on Friday.
The medium-quality variety of rice sold for Tk 58–60 a kilogram while the BR-28 variety, also known as a lower-grade Miniket, retailed at Tk 62–65 a kilogram.
The fine-variety of Miniket sold for Tk 68–78 a kilogram and Najirshail for Tk 80–90 a kilogram on the day.
The prices of atta increased by Tk 2-3 a kilogram over the week and unpackaged atta sold for Tk 60-62 a kilogram while the packaged atta sold for Tk 63–66 a kilogram in the city on Friday.
The price of sugar still remained high and the item was sold for Tk 110–120 a kilogram in the city on the day.
The prices of onions remained unchanged over the week and the local variety of onions sold for Tk 55–60 a kilogram while the imported variety sold for Tk 50–65 a kilogram in the capital on Friday.
The prices of vegetables also remained unchanged in the city over the week.
Aubergine sold for Tk 70–80 a kilogram, papaya for Tk 25–30 a kilogram, bitter gourd for Tk 70–80 a kilogram, bottle gourd for Tk 60–80 apiece, cucumber for Tk 50–60 a kilogram, pointed gourd for Tk 60 a kilogram, potatoes for Tk 25–30 a kilogram, carrot for Tk 120–130 a kilogram and tomatoes for Tk 120–140 a kilogram on Friday.
Green chillies sold for Tk 80–100 a kilogram in the city on Friday.
The price of broiler chicken decreased by Tk 10 a kilogram and the item sold for Tk 170–175 a kilogram on the day.
The price of Sonalika variety of chicken increased by Tk 10 a kilogram and the item sold for Tk 320–330 a kilogram and the local variety for Tk 530–550 a kilogram on Friday.
The prices of eggs also remained high over the week and the item sold for Tk 45–47 a hali on the markets in the city on Friday.
Rohita sold for Tk 340–400 a kilogram and Katla for Tk 320–380 a kilogram, depending on size and quality.
Pangas sold for Tk 180–190 a kilogram and Tilapia for Tk 150-170 a kilogram.
The prices of red lentil remained high over the week and the coarse variety sold for Tk 100–110 a kilogram and the medium-quality variety for Tk 120–125 a kilogram on Friday.
The fine variety of red lentil sold for Tk 130–135 a kilogram on the day.
Beef sold for Tk 680–720 a kilogram while mutton sold for Tk 900–950 a kilogram on Friday.
The local variety of garlic sold for Tk 80–100 a kilogram while the imported one sold for Tk 120–140 a kilogram on the day.
Ginger sold for Tk 180–200 a kilogram and the local variety for Tk 200–225 a kilogram on the day.
The fine-quality packaged salt retailed at Tk 35–40 a kilogram and the coarse variety at Tk 20–25 a kilogram.
