Sylhet Correspondent:
In the wholesale market of Kalighat area of the city, soybean oil is being compulsorily purchased along with other ancillary products. Such a scene was seen on Sunday night when I visited the Kalighat wholesale market. Meanwhile, due to the shortage of soybean oil in the wholesale market of Kalighat, buyers are having to purchase oil through conditions.
The owner of Habib Store in Jerjeri Para of the city, who came to buy goods for his grocery store in the Kalighat area, said, "Although I can buy many other products at the right price and quantity, I am having a lot of trouble buying soybean oil. I had to buy a sack of rice to buy a one-liter carton of soybean oil. If I don't buy a sack of rice, the dealer won't sell the oil. So I was forced to buy a sack of rice."
Many retailers said the same thing. Several retailers said that when they want to buy soybean oil, dealers are giving away products that are not available in the market, including sugar, rice, milk, ghee. We are grocery shopkeepers in our neighborhood. To buy a carton of soybean oil, we have to buy sugar and rice. But there are no buyers for a sack of sugar and rice in our store. Soybean oil is a daily commodity for everyone, so we have to keep it in the store. For this reason, we are forced to buy soybean oil from wholesalers on their terms.
Like the rest of the country, there has been a supply crisis of soybean oil in the Sylhet market for the past few days. That crisis has now increased. Therefore, whenever retail traders go to buy soybean oil in the wholesale market, they are forced to buy off-products (products of companies that are not sold in the market) of various companies. Therefore, retail traders are buying soybean oil in small quantities. In addition, they are having to buy soybean oil at a price higher than the body rate.
In the Kalighat wholesale market, it can be seen that dealers are no longer displaying soybean oil in the way they used to display it in front of their shops. Many retail buyers have come to the market. Although they buy onions, garlic, and spices in large quantities, retailers are buying very little soybean oil. Buyers are being asked to buy various products from the company from which they are buying soybean oil. If they do not buy other products as promised by the wholesalers, they are not selling soybean oil.
Mission Talukder, owner of Sapna Store in the city's Medina Market area, said, "If you want to buy oil from the wholesale market, you are being forced to buy rice and ghee. But we, the retailers, cannot force the customers to buy other products along with oil like this. So it seems that oil is being sold, but the other products we bought are staying in the store."
Meanwhile, the wholesalers of Kalighat are also saying the same thing. After talking to several wholesalers, it has been learned that almost all companies are reducing the supply of oil. In addition, when buying oil, they are being forced to buy various off-products of those companies. Therefore, the wholesalers are also selling oil on the same terms as the retailers.
Alok Pal, owner of Messrs. Janani Bhaar in Kalighat Wholesale Market, said, "To buy a carton of 5 liters of soybean oil from Pusthi Company, we have to buy ghee worth Rs. 1,350. Apart from that, we have to buy various off-items. Which we do not buy from them regularly. That is why we are selling oil to retailers through their process. Because if we cannot sell those off-items, I will suffer losses."
