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In some parts of the country, edible oil is being sold at a price higher than the maximum retail price (MRP). This situation has been occurring since the middle of the holy month of Ramadan. Not only that, in some places, even five-liter bottles of edible oil are not available. Some are not selling more than one bottle of edible oil.
Consumers are having to buy soybean oil at a price higher than 5 to 10 taka per liter in the retail market. Chain shops like Swapna and Meena Bazar have written that the stock of edible oil is limited and no more than one bottle will be sold.
The MRP of a one-liter bottle of soybean oil is 190 to 195 taka. And the MRP of five liters is 920 to 955 taka. This price has been going on since December 7. According to the government agency Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB), the minimum price of a five-liter bottle of soybean oil has increased by 30 taka in the last week and is being sold at 950-955 taka. The price of raw soybean oil has increased by 7 to 10 taka per liter. It is being sold at 185-193 taka per liter. On the other hand, the price of raw palm oil has increased by 6 to 13 taka, and is being sold at 163-168 taka.
There are 12 large grocery stores in the alleys of Dilu Road in New Eskaton, Dhaka. A shopkeeper named Ramiz Molla said last Saturday (March 14, 2026), “We are not getting oil from dealers. We have to buy it from them at the MRP price.” He said, “If there is no oil, customers go to other shops, so we have to keep the oil even though it is less profitable.” His question was, “If you sell a bottle of oil and don’t make a profit of 5 to 10 taka, will you be satisfied?”
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A customer named Sohag Mia was also seen arguing with Ramiz Molla. He was saying, “All traders, big and small, are the same. How can the public be cut off by any means?’ However, Commerce Minister Khandaker Abdul Muktadir described the sale at a price higher than the MRP as an isolated incident. On March 14, 2026, he showed a picture of some markets in the Sylhet area and said, ‘The example you gave is not a common picture of the whole country. In the peripheral areas of Sylhet, I have seen edible oil being sold at the MRP rate. Tomorrow, Sunday (March 15, 2026), I will go to Khatunganj in Chittagong to see the price and supply situation of daily necessities, including edible oil.’
On one side of the alley on Dilu Road is the chain shop Swapna, and on the other side is Meena Bazar. When visiting both, it is seen that it is written ‘Stock is limited. To ensure the right of all customers to buy soybean oil, each customer can temporarily buy a maximum of 1 piece (bottle) of oil.’ However, prices higher than the MRP are not being kept in these shops.
An overall supply review meeting of edible oil was held on March 9 by the government. The meeting, chaired by the Commerce Minister, was also attended by owners of edible oil refineries. The Bangladesh Trade and Tariff Commission (BTTC) made a presentation on the supply and price situation of edible oil at the meeting. It mentioned the shortage of edible oil.
The traders say that they have been demanding that the government adjust the price of edible oil, as the price of edible oil has increased in the international market. But the government is not paying attention to it.
It was informed in the meeting that currently, seven refineries are involved in the edible oil business. These are Meghna Group, TK Group, City Edible Oil, Bangladesh Edible Oil, Bashundhara Multi Food Products, Smile Food Products, and Mir Banaspati Products. It was informed in the meeting that there are 236,09 tons of refined and unrefined soybean and palm oil in stock. Four out of the seven factories have opened letters of credit (LC) for 55,500 tons, and four factories have 1,05,353 tons of edible oil in their pipelines. The factories are releasing 9,088 tons of edible oil to the market every day and have supplied 57,644 tons in the 15 days till March 9.
According to the Commerce Ministry, the annual demand for edible oil in the country is 2.4 to 2.5 million tons. Locally, edible oil is produced by mixing mustard and rice bran to 400,000 tons.
Traders say that they have been demanding that the government adjust the price of edible oil as the price of edible oil has increased in the international market. See more.
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