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Bulk cooking oil prices in Egypt's local market rose by about 15% over the past week, with the price per tonne reaching 62,000 Egyptian pounds on Thursday, compared with 54,000 pounds the previous week, according to monitoring by Al-Shorouk.
Industry sources attributed the increases to monopolistic practices by some major companies in the market, insisting there is no justification for the rise given the continued decline in the dollar's value and falling global prices. They said the aim is to eliminate competition from smaller companies.
It is worth noting that the dollar's exchange rate against the pound fell during October, hitting its lowest level since June 2024 at around 47.60 pounds, down from about 51 pounds at the start of the year.
Ahmed El-Manoufi, one of the organisers of commodity exhibitions and government initiatives, told Al-Shorouk that some companies and importers raised bulk cooking oil prices by about 8,000 pounds per tonne over the past week without justification. He said the increases stem from monopolistic practices by major companies in the local market, calling for regulatory bodies to step up efforts to combat such practices.
El-Manoufi noted that major companies in the sector had taken part in the Prime Minister's price-reduction initiative launched in August, offering discounts on litre packs, bringing the price down to 70 pounds from 75 and 77 pounds before the initiative.
He explained that companies have now scaled back supplies of the discounted packaged product to the local market, instead focusing on selling more refined bulk oil to packaging companies at higher prices, in order to recoup the profit margin lost due to the Prime Minister's initiative.
Major companies in Egypt's cooking oil sector — numbering no more than five — rely on importing crude oil, refining it, packaging part of it for their own products, and selling the rest to smaller companies. El-Manoufi said small oil companies have begun gradually raising their prices in response to the rise in bulk oil prices, which will negatively affect consumers.
According to earlier statements by Zakaria El-Shafei, head of the Oils Division at the Federation of Egyptian Industries, Egypt relies on imports for more than 95% of its vegetable oil needs.
For his part, Ahmed Karkandy, chairman of an oil company, told Al-Shorouk that the price gap between products of major and smaller companies drives most consumers to buy the latter, with a one-litre pack from a small producer selling for about 59 to 60 pounds, compared with 77 pounds for other brands.
He added that major companies, in response to weak sales, are raising the price of bulk oil supplied to smaller companies in order to narrow the price gap between producers and push consumers towards the bigger brands.
He noted that small companies raised their product prices last week from 59 pounds to 65 and 66 pounds per litre pack, expecting further increases in the coming days.
Karkandy went on to say that "cooking oil, like other commodities, is governed by just three factors: the dollar-pound exchange rate, global prices, and finally, supply and demand dynamics," noting that all three factors point to the price needing to fall below 50,000 pounds per tonne.
On the global front, soybean oil prices have fallen to $1,025 per tonne, compared with $1,200 in June, with soybean oil accounting for about 85% of the blended oil most commonly consumed locally.
Source: Al-Shorouk