Mohammad Suman

Consumers suffered a fresh blow yesterday as commodity processors raised the prices of  edible oil and sugar by up to Tk 13 per kg.

The import of raw materials used in manufacturing cement rose 17 per cent year-on-year in the July-October period of the current financial year of 2022-23 despite the US dollar crunch. 

Sugar prices have started rising afresh to hit a record high of as much as Tk 125 per kilogramme at retail in the two main cities of Bangladesh, namely Dhaka and Chattogram, further straining the wallets of consumers as inflation continues to bite.

The government has been deprived of Tk 472.7 crore for 21 counts of irregularities by Standard Asiatic Oil Company, a subsidiary of the Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation, found an audit.

The price of wheat flour has increased in retail markets due to a decrease in imports and rise in international market prices, dealing a fresh blow to the people who are already struggling to make their ends meet.

Chattogram Custom House has approved the handover of 71 luxury cars to the highest bidders at an auction for a total of just Tk 12.53 crore even though the vehicles have a combined market value of Tk 114 crore.

The Directorate of National Consumers Right Protection has identified seven reasons behind the price hike and shortage of sugar, including gas crisis, not mentioning price in sales invoices and complications in opening letters of credit.

Sugar has become dearer with prices going up by Tk 15 a kg at retail markets as millers cut supplies blaming insufficient gas flow at refineries.

Sugar prices have increased again in Dhaka and Chattogram amid a supply crunch.

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs yesterday granted Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation permission to import 54 lakh tonnes of oil next year in a bid to secure supply of the key commodity amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine and geopolitical tension.

The Chattogram Customs House has fined Z&Z Intimates Ltd Tk 56.4 crore for illegally releasing an imported Rolls Royce vehicle.

Shipping agents are facing difficulties in submitting the registration number and import general manifest (IGM) against their vessels due to a glitch in the related server of the National Board of Revenue (NBR), leading to delays in import-export activities.

A standoff over unpaid bills between the government and independent power plants that run on heavy fuel oil is hurting people when they are enduring the worst power crisis in a decade.

Since last July, entrepreneur  Sujan Barua, a father of two, has been campaigning against noise pollution in different areas of Chattogram.

Custom House Chattogram has auctioned off 78 luxury cars whose brands included that of BMW, Land Rover, Mitsubishi, Mercedes and Lexus and which attracted individual bids of a maximum of Tk 2.5 lakh to Tk 50.5 lakh. 

Refiners in Bangladesh have cut the price of soybean oil and the new rates have started to take effect in the kitchen markets of Dhaka.

Business and industrial activities were disrupted for several hours since yesterday afternoon as the national power grid failed, plunging half of the country into darkness.

Bangladesh Ship Recycling Act, 2018 was enacted four and a half years ago but its implementation has stayed limited to just the formation of a board. 

Whenever the price of a commodity increases in the local market, the traders and wholesalers have the readymade excuse of a price hike in the international market. But a recent study by an intelligence agency found their justification to be unsubstantiated.

Custom House Chattogram has served a notice to BM Container Depot asking why its private bonded warehouse licence should not be cancelled following the recent deadly explosions and fire inside it.