Local vegetable oil prices unchanged despite decrease in global prices — stakeholder

AMMAN — Amid declining global commodity prices, local food prices remain the same, said President of the Jordan Association for Restaurants and Sweet Shops Owners Omar Awwad on Tuesday.

“Prices of palm and sunflower oil and other vegetable oils in particular, have dropped globally. Yet, we did not notice any change in prices,” Awwad told The Jordan Times during an interview.

He added that palm oil prices began decreasing globally around four months ago. Locally, however, one tank of palm oil is still sold for JD29-JD30, noted Awwad.

“Soybean oil prices are stable, but sunflower and corn oil prices are still going up in Jordan,” he said.

Controlling the growing operational costs has become almost impossible, said Awwad, calling on the relevant government departments to monitor prices in the market.

Further, he pointed out that some supermarkets and hypermarkets are selling vegetable oil at unstable prices, which, according to Awwad, needs to be immediately addressed.

Restaurant sector operators are still demanding the adoption of a price ceiling for input products, said Awwad.

“Many dealers have exploited inflation,” said Awwad. Therefore the relevant governmental entities should organise more inspection tours, he noted.

He said that the association has been regularly checking supermarkets and hypermarkets’ promotional catalogues over the past few months.

Meanwhile, a statement by the General Association for Foodstuffs Merchants, made available to The Jordan Times, said that domestic retail prices of vegetable oil have decreased.

The statement revealed that palm oil prices showed substantial decreases compared with other vegetable oils, noting that palm oil saw a price reduction of 35 per cent, followed by a 25 per cent reduction in soybean prices, and a 15 per cent decrease in sunflower oil prices.

The association also denied the claim that merchants are refusing to decrease their prices, adding that “reduction percentages of all vegetable oil products depend on the type of oil, package size and the producer country”.

Waleed Ali, a grocery store owner, said that many merchants are keeping their prices steady and have even had sales and promotions for corn and sunflower oil.

“The price of soybean oil is also stable. The 4 litres of it is sold for JD7.12 at the Civil Service Consumer Corporation,” he told The Jordan Times on Wednesday.