The price of soybean oil goes up again in the country today, with each litre to be sold for Tk 153, up from the previous price of Tk 144 set barely two weeks ago.

With this latest hike, the price of the essential cooking ingredient has gone up five times in the last five months. The price of each litre of bottled soybean oil has soared by Tk 38 (33 percent) since December 30 last year when the price was Tk 115 a litre.

The new price rate becomes effective from today, Bangladesh Vegetable Oil Refiners and Vanaspati Manufacturers Association said in a circular on Thursday.

The price hike comes at a time when people are struggling to keep up with the rising prices of essentials amid the pandemic.

According to the new price rate, the price of five-litre bottled soybean oil has been fixed at Tk 728, up by Tk 43 from the previous price of Tk 685. Loose soybean oil will be sold for Tk 129 a litre, up from Tk 122.

However, the price of loose palm oil has been reduced to Tk 112 per litre from Tk 113.

In the last week of December 2020, bottled soybean oil was sold for around Tk 115 per litre while loose soybean oil for around Tk 110, up by Tk 10 to Tk 15 per litre from the previous month.

Many consumers blamed the government's lack of price monitoring and arbitrariness on the part of edible oil processors for the steep rise in prices.

Aminul Islam, a low-income consumer in Dhaka, said the oil price hike came as a "third blow" to the low and middle-income people as they faced two waves of the pandemic.

Nazrul Islam, a private service holder, said he was finding it very difficult to run his family due to price hike of essentials

"How can I buy edible oil at such a high price? Is there no one to look into the matter?" he questioned.

Seeking anonymity, an official at a private company said the current edible oil prices in the country were not compatible with those in the international market.

When the prices go up in the international market, it is reflected in the local market. But the consumers don't see price adjustment in the local market when prices fall in the international market, he alleged.

Biswajit Saha, director for corporate and regulatory affairs at City Group, said prices of edible oil increased by 160 percent in the international market in the last one year.

According to the current price of soybean oil in the international market, the price would have been Tk 170 to 175 per litre in Bangladesh, he said.

Soybean oil now sells for $1460 per tonne in the international market, Biswajit added.

He said they have to pay the government an import duty of TK 28 to Tk 30 for each litre of soybean oil which was TK 15 previously.

"The soybean oil that we are selling now was bought earlier. At that time, the price in the international market was $1260-1270 per tonne."

He said it would be possible for the processors to reduce the prices if the government withdrew the import duty.