Govt lifts ban on rice bran oil exports citing drop in edible oil prices
The government recently set the price of a litre of soybean oil at Tk199
Traders will be able to resume exporting rice bran oil from today, the commerce ministry said.
The ministry made the announcement on Thursday after lifting an export ban on the commodity imposed on 24 May to tackle an edible oil supply crunch.
The ministry argued the ban has been lifted as demand for rice bran oil has decreased and edible oil prices have dropped.
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The government recently set the price of a litre of soybean oil at Tk199, down from Tk205 last week, but Tk50-60 higher than the same time last year.
According to the Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB), a litre of soybean oil cost Tk140-150 the same time last year.
Edible oil supplies suffered disruptions following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February. On top of that, Indonesia, the biggest supplier of palm oil, imposed a ban on its export on 28 April resulting in an edible oil crunch made worse with illegal hoarding by unscrupulous traders.
Due to the Russia-Ukraine war, Indonesia suspended palm oil exports for about a month and Argentina shrank its soybean oil exports.
Due to this, the price of oil continues to rise in the international market which has an impact on the country's market.
Companies involved in the production and export of rice bran oil say that rice bran oil is mainly exported to India where there is a huge demand for rice bran oil.
According to the Bangladesh Trade and Tariff Commission, the country currently produces a little more than 80,000 tonnes of rice bran oil. The country's demand for edible oil is about 20 lakh tonnes, of which only 2 lakh tonnes are produced in the country.
