Govt to buy 12.5m litres soybean oil for TCB

The government will procure 12.5 million litres of soybean oil for Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB) to carry out subsidised commodity sale campaign to lower sufferings  of low-income people amid mounting inflation. 

It will cost the state coffer Tk 2.05 billion. Besides, 5000 kilogram of lentil will also be procured for the state-run trading agency  following direct procurment method. 

Cabinet committee on government purchase (CCGB) gave nod to two separate procurement proposals in this regard held on Wednesday with Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal in the chair. 

Commerce Ministry placed the proposals on behalf of the TCB, the state marketing agency.

At a media briefing later, Cabinet Division Additional Secretary Abdul Barik said the TCB will procure the commodities through direct procurement method (DPM) showing the cause of emergency needs.

The TCB, a subordinate body of the Commerce Ministry, will sell these goods to people at controlled rates as part of the government’s open market sale (OMS) programe, he added.

Under a proposal, some 4 million litre of soybean oil will be procured from Super Oil Refinery at Tk 173.95 per litre while remaining 8.5 million litre will be purchased from three suppliers at Tk 171 per litre.

Of the three suppliers, Shun Shing Edible Oil Ltd, a subsidiary company of Bangladesh Edible Oil Limited (BEOL), will supply 2 million litres while Bashundhara Multi Food Products Limited (BMFPL), a subsidiary of Bashundhara Group, will supply 3.5 million litres and Sena Edible Oil Industry, a subsidiary of Sena Kalyan Sangstha Bangladesh, will provide 30,000 litre of soybean oil.

The 4 million litres of the edible oil will cost Tk 695.8 million while 85 lakh litres will cost over Tk 1.45 billion. 
Some 5000 kg of lentil will be procured from three suppliers spending Tk 555 million with each kg price at Tk 111.

Of these, some 3000 kgs will be purchased from ACI Limited, 1000 kgs from Nadil Traders and 1000 kgs from Roy Traders.

The CCGP also approved another 13 proposals from different ministries.

Of these, the state-owned Bangladesh Chemical Industries Corporation (BCIC) will procure some 120,000 metric tonnes of fertilizer from four international suppliers.

Of these, 30,000 mt of bagged prilled urea fertilizer will be procured from Muntajat of Qatar at a cost Tk 1.53 billion, while another 30,000 mt bagged granular from Kafco at Tk 1.52 billion.

Some 30,000 mt of bulk granular urea will be imported from SABIC Agri-nutrients Company of Saudi Arabia at Tk 151.88 crore and another 30,000 mt from the same Saudi company at Tk 1.49 billion.

Each metric ton of urea from the four lots will cost between $443.35 and $524.50 which earlier cost between $588 and $557.87 per metric tonne.

This shows that the cost of urea fertilizer is decreasing in the global market which had crossed $1000 immediately after the Russia-Ukraine war began.

Six separate proposals from the Chattagram Port Authority under the Ministry of Shipping received the nod of the committee to hire six berth operators at the port for next 5 years.