Consumers are now paying Tk9 more for each litre of bottled soybean oil despite the government insisting it has not approved any price hike — raising fresh questions about the effectiveness of market monitoring for one of the country’s most essential commodities.
Refiners’ unprecedented desperation this time has also drawn widespread criticism.
In October, the Bangladesh Vegetable Oil Refiners and Vanaspati Manufacturers Association announced a Tk6 increase in bottled soybean oil through a press release, only to backtrack and return to the government-approved rate of Tk189 per litre after briefly selling at Tk195.
This week, however, no such public announcement was made. Instead, refiners quietly started selling soybean oil at higher prices even though their late-November application for a price increase had yet to be approved.
Commerce Adviser Sk Bashir Uddin said at the Secretariat on Wednesday that companies raising edible oil prices without approval would face action. “Traders have increased prices without clearance from the ministry,” he said.
Consumers Association of Bangladesh President AHM Shofiuzzaman demanded visible enforcement. “We want to see real action by the Ministry of Commerce,” he said.
Refiners wrote to the Bangladesh Trade and Tariff Commission on 10 November seeking to raise the price of bottled soybean oil from Tk189 to Tk199, effective 24 November.
Their request was not approved, Adviser Bashir Uddin confirmed.
Refiners had claimed that a 2011 commerce ministry order on essential commodity pricing empowered their association to revise rates independently and simply notify the monitoring cell and administration.
Shofiuzzaman — a former commerce secretary — described this as a “misinterpretation.”
He said the government retains authority over the prices of 24 essential commodities, and that the industry had shown “unprecedented audacity” by unilaterally increasing prices.
He added that during the election period and political transition, the interim government was placing “less focus on market monitoring,” creating room for opportunistic behaviour.
Businesses try to raise the prices of Ramadan-related essentials every year ahead of the season, he noted.
He demanded strict oversight, saying, “We want to see meaningful action. The law even empowers the government to cancel a company’s business licence for such violations.”
Bangladesh Vegetable Oil Refiners and Vanaspati Manufacturers Association Executive Nurul Islam Mollah did not respond to multiple calls and messages seeking comment.
In October, the commerce adviser had said the tariff commission’s formula for calculating soybean oil prices required revision. The ministry has since sought review reports from the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Bangladesh and the Institute of Cost and Management Accountants of Bangladesh.
The interim government is also working to amend the Control of Essential Commodities Act 1956 to update the list of controlled items in line with evolving consumption patterns.
