Bangladesh

Soybean Oil

Import of Refined Soybean Oil

Refined soy oil (RSO) is the preferred cooking oil in Bangladesh.  It is an essential ingredient in the daily diet of the Bangladeshi people and is available even in remote areas of the country.  Almost 80% of this soybean oil is imported from abroad, mainly from Brazil and Argentina. Twenty percent (20%) of soybean oil demand is now been met through domestic crushing.

In 2000, two American brands of refined soybean oil were introduced in Bangladesh but quickly left the market, unfortunately.  Ananda Oil & Water Industries Limited, a private business company of Bangladesh , imported the KING GOURMET™ brand. The processor and owner of KING GOURMET is Union Oil Company of Florida . The SOYA AMERICA™ brand of refined soybean oil was imported and marketed in Bangladesh by its producer, the World Trade Promotion Center, Inc.  Neither of these brands is now available on the Bangladesh market.

However, in 2004, a new US-made soybean oil brand AMERICAN CHEF™ was successfully introduced into Bangladesh.  ADM Oil in Decatur, Illinois is the producer, and the oil is imported into Bangladesh by Ornate Services Ltd.  His Excellency the US Ambassador in Bangladesh, Harry K. Thomas, Jr., officially launched AMERICAN CHEF™ in the Bangladesh market in December 2004. During 2006, sales of AMERICAN CHEF™ soybean oil increased significantly, with the middle class population starting to prefer to use this brand as their regular cooking oil. This success of AMERICAN CHEF™ spurred the demand for a high quality brand of cooking oil, which encouraged the introduction of another prestigious US soybean oil brand, PURE WESSON™. Made by the US based ConAgra Foods, PURE WESSON was initially introduced to meet the requirements of leading hotels and restaurants, Government guesthouses and the like.  It too is now widely available in major metros of the country.
 At present, about 90% share of the foreign vegetable market has been captured by these two US made soybean oil brands.

Crude Degummed Soybean Oil

Most oil comes into the country as crude degummed soybean oil (CDSO) and is refined locally.  Brazil has about 78% share of the CDSO market and Argentina has 18% share, with 4% shipped from Singapore; small but increasing quantities are imported from the United States.  Obviously, the USSEC/ASA-IM wishes to grow the US share. There are 77 refineries in the country; however, only 25 are in active operation.  (Many small refineries went bankrupt in 1990 when the GOB withdrew financial support from CDSO imports and allowed private companies to directly import CDSO.)  The remaining refineries are large but still only use only about 30% of their capacity, on average. The seven largest refineries are represented by the Bangladesh Vegetable Refineries Association, which coordinates the trading, marketing, and lobbying activities of the member companies.

Foreign private firms began entering the local soybean oil market in the early 1990s and, in recent years, all imports of soybean oil have been carried out by the foreign or domestic private sectors.  For example, Bangladesh Edible Oil Mills, Ltd (BEOM) is 100% foreign owned and is registered as a Singaporean company.  Its own brand of soybean oil, RUPCHANDA™, is the most popular in the country with 30%-35% market share of soybean oil marketed in bottles (which, overall, accounts for 20% of total soy oil consumption).

Shipments of CDSO from the United States do come into Bangladesh through USDA food aid programs. In 2002, the ever first commercial shipment of 24,000 MT US CDSO came into Bangladesh and further commercial deliveries are expected.

Our Program

To further promote US soybean oil, the USSEC/ASA-IM organizes seminars – such as one entitled "Safe Cooking Oil Ensures Better Family Health” – which help leading consumer groups obtain basic information on vegetable oils, discusses the adulteration issue and compares other oils with US-made soybean oil.  Workshops for consumer groups, physicians and retailers – for example, "Quality Aspects of US made Soybean Oil" – are also organized, as are workshops for vegetable oil traders on "The Commercial Aspects of US made Soybean Oil". Recently, ASA-IM has been organizing special sales workshops and sales training for oil traders.

In general, these USSEC/ASA-IM organized seminars, workshops and trainings are proving effective in the promotion of soybean oil generally and, in particular, of US soybean oil.
(updated 07 July 2008)