23/7/2006  (Financial Express) -  Prices of edible oil rose by upto 13 per cent in one week in the wholesale market due to alleged manipulation by big traders.
Traders at Moulvibazar in Dhaka and Khatoonganj in Chittagong said agents of leading edible oil companies in connivance with the big traders have allegedly been manipulating the prices of the item over the past one week.
They hinted that a syndicate of edible oil traders had become active ahead of the holy month of Ramadan, when the demand for soybean and palm oil would rise sharply.
Traders at the city's Moulvibazar wholesale market said the prices of soybean rose by Tk 150-Tk 180 per maund over the past one week.
Traders said the prices of soybean as on Saturday ranged between Tk 1445 and Tk 1630 per maund against Tk 1340- Tk 1450 per maund previously.
General Secretary of the city's Moulvibazar Wholesale Traders Association Golam Mowla said the wholesale price of soybean is Tk 1615 per maund on an average.
But the prices of soybean of City Group have gone up by Tk 100 to Tk 1660-Tk 1705 per maund since Thursday last.
The prices of the edible oil vary depending on the reputation of the companies.
On Saturday, the per litre price of soybean in the wholesale market stood at Tk 43-Tk 44 while at the retail market it was above Tk 50 per litre, market sources claimed.
They hinted that the price of soybean at retail level might go up to Tk 60 per litre shortly. The prices of canned edible oil under the different brands will also increase considerably due to the influence of the wholesale market.
"The edible oil is such an item whose price rises faster than any other essential commodities," said Golam Mowla.
Mostafa Vegetable Oil, TK Oil, Dada Oil company, M Rahmania, Abul Khair Group, City group, Russel edible oil, S Alam edible oil and Shah Amanat oil company are leading edible oil refiners in the country.
The companies import the crude palm and soybean from Malaysia and refine them at their respective plants.
The companies supply the refined oil through their agents at the Khatoonganj and Moulvibazar in the city.
The agents issue the delivery orders (DOs) at Khatoonganj in Chittagong and Moulvibazar in the city against the refined oil production at the plants.
Agents and other big traders, sources alleged, are manipulating the prices this time on the ground of price fluctuation of crude oil in Malaysia and increased usages of such oil for producing gasoline.
When contacted, a number of refined oil companies both in the capital and the port city said the price at the factory level is almost stable.
"The price of edible oil fluctuates, depending on demand and supply factors. But, now its price is nearly Tk 80 per maund higher than the factory rate," one oil company official in the city claimed
But, the director of marketing at the City Group, Jafar Uddin Siddique, told the FE that he was not aware of the price hike of refined oil in the market.
However, according to the DOs the prices Mostafa brand were at Tk 1475-1507, Russel at Tk 1485-Tk 1505 per maund, Dada palm at Tk 1445-Tk 1485 per maund, Dada soybean at Tk 1650-Tk 1690 per maund and City soybean at Tk 1660-Tk 1705 and palm at Tk 1675-1690.