Edible oil crisis: Seizures show how hoarding is at play

The seizure of hundreds of thousands of litres of hoarded edible oil in the last one week has proved the claim that unscrupulous traders created the crisis to be able to sell cooking oil at higher prices.

As different government agencies raid shops and warehouses, seizing large stockpiles of soybean oil, it becomes clear why soybean oil disappeared from most of the grocery stores across the country in the last week of April. The shortage still persists.

Yesterday, officials seized around 3.5 lakh litres of edible oil in eight districts and fined the hoarders Tk 4.35 lakh. Two thirds of the recoveries were made in three warehouses in Khulna.

In the preceding three days, the Directorate of National Consumer Rights Protection (DNCRP) seized over 2.84 lakh litres of edible oil from warehouses across the country. The seized oil was later sold to the customers at the prices mentioned on the bottles.

The recoveries came over a month after the DNCRP warned that mill owners, dealers and wholesalers were out to manipulate the supply of edible oil, using the pretext of price hike in the international market, Ramadan and Russia-Ukraine war.

Ghulam Rahman, president of Consumers Association of Bangladesh, said the recoveries prove that the oil crisis has been an artificial one, created "in the hope of making more profit after Eid".

Strict measures should be taken so no one dares commit such crimes in the future, he added.

After visiting six oil refineries, the supervisory team of DNCRP in a report to the commerce ministry in late March said the refiners reduced the supply of edible oil to make more profit.

The team recommended legal measures against those involved. But there was hardly any visible action from the government.

The commerce ministry on May 5 approved a price hike of soybean oil in line with the proposals made by importers, refiners and wholesalers. The decision was aimed at ensuring smooth supply of edible oil in the market.

Edible oil supplies suffered hiccups amid the Russia-Ukraine war. To make matters worse, Indonesia, the biggest supplier of palm oil, imposed a ban on its export on April 28.

Cooking oil eventually disappeared from most of the retail shops across the country in the run-up to Eid, when demand usually goes up.

YESTERDAY'S SEIZURE

In Khulna, a mobile court led by Executive Magistrate Devashish Basak yesterday seized around 2.22 lakh litres of edible oil from warehouses of three traders in the Boro Bazar area.

Saha Traders was caught with around 95,000 litres, Ranjit Biswas and Sons 69,000 litres, and Sonali Enterprise 58,580 litres. Owners of the warehouses were fined a total of Tk 1,60,000, Basak said.

DNCRP seized at least 69,120 litres of edible oil in Sirajganj, Jhenidah, Nilphamari, and Chapainawabganj. The hoarders were fined a total of Tk 1.65 lakh.

DNRCP and mobile courts also recovered hoarded edible oil in Khagrachhari and Cumilla yesterday ranging from 3,000 litres to 8,000 litres and slapped fines.

A mobile court in Bogura fined Fakir Oil Mill Tk 50,000 after finding 31,800 litres of soybean oil in its stock.

On Wednesday, DNCRP in Natore fined Baraigram Municipality Mayor Mazedul Bari Nayon Tk 1 lakh after finding 3,000 litres of Soybean at a warehouse owned by him.