Govt-traders talks key to smooth commodity supply
Says executive director of ACI Logistics
The government should immediately sit with businesses to ensure smooth commodity supplies to domestic markets, thereby containing inflationary pressure on common people, said Sabbir Hasan Nasir, executive director of ACI Logistics.
"The government should immediately sit with traders, especially those who are directly involved with imports and warehousing, and manufacturers to understand the actual market situation," he told The Daily Star in a phone interview recently.
Nasir made this call at a time when prices of various essential commodities are going up, forcing many people with limited and low income to ration consumption.
For example, the price of edible oil has shot up for multiple reasons such as a curb on exports by Indonesia and dry weather in the major soybean producing and exporting countries of Brazil and Argentina.
The ongoing Russia-Ukraine war further exacerbated the situation and some other commodities, namely wheat, started to become dearer locally as both countries are big global suppliers of the grain.
Bangladesh imports over three-fourth of its wheat and edible oil because of limited domestic production.
Nasir said Shwapno, one of the country's largest supermarket retail chains run by ACI Logistics, continues to closely monitor prices and put in the effort to keep product costs within an affordable range for consumers.
"We mainly focus on the middle-class people as we can bring them in at our prices and reduce the pressures on them. However, the whole thing is not in my hands as I am only a tiny part of the huge market," Nasir said.
"As a consumer centric brand, we always try to stay on the consumers' side while maintaining a balance with others," he added.
He said a quota had been brought about in the over 200 Shwapno stores to prevent panic buying of soybean oil.
"We have no other way than controlling panic buying," Nasir said.
The government recently conducted several drives across the country to prevent stockpiling of edible oil.
Nasir welcomed the initiative but urged for analysing the situation properly so that panic does not spread among traders.
He also urged the government to maintain conditions such that retail chains can make purchases of products at just prices.
He said when inflationary pressure arises for price hikes, non-brand retails exhibit a tendency to be opportunistic, motivated by the scope of generating exorbitant profits in a short period of time.
For brands, business was to be embarked upon for the long term through the expansion of the customer base. Such situations also create the opportunity for them to gain customer confidence, he said.