Buyers stock up on edible oil amid price hike fears

Consumers in the capital are rushing to buy edible oil due to fears of rising prices in the international market due to the ongoing war situation between the United States, Israel and Iran. Due to higher purchases than demand, there has been a shortage of soybean oil in various markets in Dhaka.

Although one and two liter bottles are available in several markets and grocery stores, five liter soybean oil bottles are not available in most places.

Retailers complain that companies have reduced the supply of five liter bottles for the past week. However, the manufacturing companies have denied this allegation.

When they visited the shops in Meradia Bazar and nearby areas of South Banasree, no five liter soybean oil was available on Saturday. Even the outlet of Supershop Swapna had no oil.

A vendor said that almost all the buyers who came since the morning had taken one bottle each. Now there is no more oil.

The same picture was seen in Agora in South Banasree. There were no five-liter soybean oil, only a few two-liter bottles of the Fresh brand. To provide oil to a large number of buyers, the authorities are not allowing one person to buy more than one bottle.

Soybean oil was also not available in some grocery stores in Badda and Shahjadpur areas. A limited number of two-liter bottles were found in one or two large stores.

Businessman Md. Saiful Islam said that companies are not providing five-liter bottles. They also provide two-liter bottles occasionally. The company said that they do not have oil supply.

Another seller, Elyas Hossain, said that they have not been receiving oil for two weeks; while large stores receive it occasionally, small stores are being deprived.

On the other hand, Taslim Shahriar, Deputy General Manager of Meghna Group, told the media that a large amount of oil was supplied in January and February. Additional oil was imported to keep the supply normal during Ramadan. More than 50,000 tons of oil are being supplied per month. There is no need for a crisis.

Market analysts say that even though the supply is normal, the crisis may worsen if excessive buying continues in panic. Consumers have demanded strengthened market supervision and dealer-level stock monitoring to control the situation.