12/08/2008 (Reuters, India), Dhaka - Bangladesh has imported about 17 percent more edible oil during January to July 2008 despite soaring prices, a senior official of the sector said.

During the last seven months the country imported 700,000 tonnes of oil of which 74 percent was palm oil, 14 percent soybean and the rest rapeseed, said A.K.M. Fakhrul Alam, regional manager for Bangladesh, Nepal and Myanmar of the Malaysian Palm Oil Council.

"Despite abnormal price hikes, the import of oil, especially palm oil, rose 61 percent, while soybean import was down 35 percent, compared with the same period the previous year," he told Reuters on Tuesday.

"The growth of import in terms of both quantity and value demonstrates that the buying capacity and habit of Bangladeshis to consume oil, a vital nutrition, have increased," Fakhrul said.

Per capita income of Bangladeshi citizens rose 15 percent to $599 in the fiscal year to June 2008, from $520 in the previous year, while the economy grew at more than six percent over the last few years, officials said.

Bangladesh on average consumes 100,000 tonnes of edible oils per month, over 70 percent of it palm oil and the rest soybean, rapeseed and sunflower, Fakhrul said.

"But during the Ramadan in September, the month of Muslim fasting, the intake of high protein food as well as edible oil and fat, will rise substantially, by around 40 percent to 140,000 tonnes," he said.

During July and August refiners planned to import about 275,000 tonnes of crude edible oil, including 25,000 tonnes soyabean and 250,000 tonnes palm oil/olein.

Of this, 146,000 tonnes of crude palm oil/olein already arrived by Aug. 10 while another 25,000 tonnes of crude soybean oil and 26,000 tonnes of crude palm oil/olein will come in a few days.

But as prices of crude edible oils in international markets have sharply declined since early July and the trend is continuing, Bangladeshi refinery owners/importers of crude edible oils are trying to negotiate either to reduce the price or to cancel the earlier committed/booked quantity, most of which is crude palm oil/olein.

"Exporters warned against such a move by the local refinery owners or importers and have cautioned that if they cancel orders/bookings, that may affect the supply of crude edible oils to Bangladesh in future," a trader of the industry said.

When the importers booked the quantity, the price of crude palm oil/olein was $1,200 per tonne, on C & F basis, on the average, which on Tuesday came down to $980.

"We are already counting losses every day and now we are obliged to honour our commitment, which will force us to incur a total loss of about $62 million," he said.

Now the traders have urged the government to interfere to reduce their losses by asking the banks to charge a minimum interest (on credits) and also to waive more than 15 percent value added tax on import of crude edible oils.