supply cooking oil in a number of areas began to flood the market after the government raised the highest retail price (HET) of bulk oil to Rp. 14 thousand per liter and removed the HET of packaged oil. However, cooking oil price still ‘exorbitant.’
In Banjarbaru City, South Kalimantan, especially in modern retail, the price of premium packaged cooking oil of various brands containing 2 liters is priced between IDR 49 thousand to IDR 52 thousand.
“I was happy to see a lot of cooking oil on display, it turned out to be expensive, I didn’t buy it,” said Rohimah (55), a resident who was met after leaving a modern retail store in Banjarbaru as quoted from BetweenMonday (21/3).
The same thing also happened in Pekanbaru City, Riau, the price of bulk cooking oil penetrated Rp. 20,000 per liter. This is due to the high demand of residents in the local area since supplies are scarce in some areas.
A number of residents complained about the price hike. The reason is that packaged cooking oil in some modern retailers is also empty.
“Packaged cooking oil is getting scarce, everywhere you look you can’t find it. Even then, there is only one trader who sells bulk cooking oil at an expensive price,” said Det, a resident of Simpang Tiga Village, Bukit Raya District, Pekanbaru City.
The high price of cooking oil in the area is also recognized by other residents. Susi, a resident of Marpoyan sub-district, said she was surprised when she bought cooking oil at a modern retail store which suddenly filled up in the window.
Even the cooking oil on display has listed a selling price of Rp. 24,500 per liter. “We suspect that there is an intentional hoarding by distributors and traders of cooking oil,” he added.
Similarly, in Tanjungpinang City, Riau Archipelago Province, the price of packaged cooking oil is Rp. 25 thousand per liter.
A housewife, Erita, said that the packaged cooking oil for the brands of Shania and Fortune are priced at IDR 49 thousand and IDR 50 thousand for two liters, respectively.
“I was surprised, this morning I bought it at the Pinang Lestari supermarket, the price had increased to Rp. 25 thousand per liter, even though a few days earlier it was still Rp. 14 thousand per liter,” he explained.
A fried food seller on the side of Herman’s road also assessed that the increase in the price of cooking oil was too high, so that it was very burdensome for him as a small trader.
In fact, in a day, he needs at least 8 liters of cooking oil to sell various kinds of fried foods. This means that the capital needed is now around Rp. 200 thousand per day, whereas previously it was only around Rp. 100 thousand per day. “It can’t be helped, if the price of fried foods increases, the customers are afraid to run away,” said Herman.
In Jember, East Java, cooking oil prices also soared. In that area, packaged cooking oil is priced at IDR 25,000 per liter after the government revoked the HET IDR 14,000 per liter since March 16, 2022.
“The price of packaged cooking oil is left to the market mechanism because the government no longer regulates the HET for the commodity,” said Head of the Jember Industry and Trade Agency, Bambang Saputro.
(mrh/bir)
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