Despite sufficient production, stock and import of essential commodities, prices of many of them, including rice, edible oil, pulses and vegetables, have increased recently because of a syndication of some traders, warehouse keepers and mill owners, sources alleged.
They are also secretly taking preparation to increase the prices of some other essentials such as gram and pea during the forthcoming Ramadan. They are trying to spread the rumour of ‘import ban’ from China for Covid-19 crisis there and showing it as an excuse as part of their ill-motiv to increase the price of essentials without any genuine reasons.
A classified report of the Special Branch of Police sent to the Ministry of Commerce last week revealed the information.
The report also recommended taking various measures such as vigilance on the dishonest traders, punishing through mobile court and selling essentials with subsidy through the Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB) so that the syndicate cannot increase price of commodities during the Ramadan.
The report further said the amount of stock of some goods are more than the demand. Still prices of almost all the essential commodities are increasing. In last 10 days, price of per kg rice has increased by Tk 3 to 10, price of pulse by Tk 10 to 15, onion by Tk 40 to 50, garlic by Tk 40 to 50, edible oil by Tk 8 to 10 and sugar by Tk 3 to 4.
The main reason behind increase of the prices are syndication of some dishonest mill owners, warehouse keepers and importers. Besides, they are also hoarding some goods to create an artificial crisis to increase prices of those commodities, the report added.
The report of the Special Branch of Police said the price of rice was stable in the market when paddy was in the farmers’ house after the Aman season’s harvest. Rice price is soaring after the paddy went to the hands of mill owners and warehouse keepers from the hands of the farmers.
There is no credible reason behind the upswing of price of oil as there is sufficient amount of crude oil in the possession of the factory owners, and there is also no shortage of refined oil in the market, the report added.
The main reason behind increase of oil price, according to the report, is factory owners and importers selling of delivery order (DO) to specific agents (middlemen) at the time or before refining the edible crude oil. Those agents again sell those DOs to local whole sellers at a profit of Tk 30 to 40 per mound. After that the DOs are again sold at different level ultimately increasing the price of oil by Tk 10 to 11 per kg to the retail sellers.
On the other hand, importers and agents increase oil price at once if the price increases in the international market. But they do not decrease the price when the price fall again in the international market. In the same way the syndicate increases the price of onion, sugar, gram, pea and pulse, the report added.