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Chittagong Representative/

Usually, when the price increases in the world market, the price of soybean oil also increases in the country. But the price of soybeans in the world market has decreased for four months, but it has not decreased in the country. On the contrary, the price of soybeans was increased by Tk 12 per liter in the country’s market on Thursday. Soybean oil price per liter has increased to Tk 199.

The VAT exemption on import of soybeans by the government has expired. It is believed that the price has been increased to recover the additional VAT that the importers have to pay from the buyers.

On the other hand, the price of sugar is also increasing in the country’s market. But the reason for this increase is the global market. Because, the price of sugar in the world market is continuously increasing. The companies have also reduced the import due to the fear of whether they will be able to get the price in the country by buying sugar from the world market at an increased price. That is, the price increase in the world market has had a negative impact on the import of sugar.

The government has been fixing the retail price of oil and sugar since two years ago. However, the government fixed price is effective now for soybean oil, but not for sugar. Loose sugar is not easily available in the retail market due to supply crunch. Again the price is increasing by leaps and bounds.

Impact of VAT on soybeans
In the first four months of the current year 2023, January-April, 2 lakh 9 thousand tons of crude soybeans have been imported into the country. At the same time last year it was 1 lakh 84 thousand tons. Soybean import has increased by 13 percent during the same period compared to the first four months of last year.

The price of soybeans in the world market is continuously decreasing. According to customs data, the price of raw soybeans imported through Chittagong port in January this year was $1,380 per ton. After that, the price of soybeans decreased every month. In the space of four months, the price of soybeans decreased by 110 dollars to 1 thousand 260 dollars per ton. That is, 12 rupees per liter has decreased.

When the price of soybeans is continuously decreasing in the international market, the price has been increased by Tk 12 per liter in the country. In this, the price per liter stands at 199 taka.

In this regard, the Edible Oil Producers Association said in a press release on Thursday that the VAT exemption given by the government for the import of edible oil has expired on April 30. In this situation, Bangladesh Vegetable Oil Refiners and Bonaspati Manufacturers Association has decided to increase the price of edible oil in discussion with the Ministry of Commerce and Bangladesh Tariff Commission.

According to customs data, VAT was Rs 5 per kg before withdrawal of VAT facility. Now you have to pay VAT about 20 taka. In other words, the companies have to pay an additional VAT of 15 taka per kg (16 taka per liter).

If you want to know, the director of one of the importing companies TK Group. Shafiul Athar Tashlim said that the period of VAT benefits in soybeans has expired. In this situation, the prices have been adjusted considering the latest import rates.

The peak price of soybeans was set in June last year. The price was fixed at Rs 205 per litre. After that, the prices were increased and decreased several times in accordance with the world market.

Earlier, lastly on December 18, the price of soybeans was reduced by Tk 5 per liter to Tk 187. From there, the price of soybeans has been increased by Tk 12 to Tk 199 per liter on Thursday.

Influence of world market on sugar
Import of sugar in the country is decreasing now. In the first four months of this year, 7 lakh 38 thousand tons of sugar was imported. At the same time last year, 1.5 million tons were imported. That is, compared to the previous year, the import has decreased by about 30 percent or 3 lakh tons.

The price of sugar is continuously increasing in the world market. On the contrary, imports are decreasing. Raw sugar was imported at $470 per tonne in January this year, which rose steadily to $530 in April. That is, the price of sugar per ton in the world market has increased by 60 dollars in a span of four months. Taking the price of 107 taka per dollar, it can be said that the price of sugar has increased by about 6 and a half taka per kg. However, the price of sugar in the country’s market has increased a lot.

In this situation, Golam Rahman, Secretary General of Bangladesh Sugar Refiners Association and Managing Director (MD) of Deshbandhu Group gave a letter to the Ministry of Commerce on Tuesday. In this letter, he said that the price of raw sugar has increased a lot in the international market. Currently, the price of sugar per metric ton is USD 675. But a month ago it was 520 US dollars. Even though the price has increased in the international market, the members of the organization are not getting the courage to import sugar as the domestic market has not increased at that rate.

When asked, Golam Rahman said that if sugar is imported at the current market price, the retail price in the market will increase a lot. In this situation, a letter has been sent to the Ministry of Commerce to seek the advice and decision of the government.

The price of sugar in the world market is high now. But sugar was not imported at this rate. But it has an impact on the market. As the supply decreases. So sugar is not available at the rate set by the government. At the beginning of April, the Ministry of Commerce had fixed the maximum retail price of open sugar at Tk 104 per kg. At that time, the price of packaged sugar was fixed at Tk 109 per kg. Sugar is now being sold at Tk 140 per kg in the retail market.