Palm-soybean oil of Tk 200b imported

The country has imported palm and soybean oil of Tk 200 billion in the first 10 months of 2021-22 fiscal, which is 55 per cent higher than the last fiscal, at Tk 126.24 billion, according to Bangladesh Bank and National Board of Revenue (NBR).

The expenditure is expected to increase further in the last two months of this fiscal as the prices of edible oil—palm and soybean—have spiked in the new Letter of Credit (LC) opened by the businessmen.

If the imports of these two types of oil continue at the current pace, the import cost would eventually stand at US dollars 2.73 billion, which is nearly 1 billion higher than the last FY.

The soybean oil was imported at US dollars 854 per tonne in the first 10 months of 2020-21 FY, which jumped to US dollars 1,379 in 2021-22 fiscal. Similarly, the average import price of per tonne palm oil was US dollars 793, which increased to 1,205 in the current fiscal.

TK group director Shafiul Athar Taslim told Prothom Alo that the average import price of per tonne soybean, released from the port this month, has stood at US dollars 1,876 while the price in the new LC opened is higher from US dollars 1,950 to US dollars 2,000. The price could reduce a bit in the world market if Indonesia withdraws the restriction on palm oil.