Despite a sharp decline in the commodity prices on the international market after a Ukraine war-induced surge, consumers in Bangladesh are still bearing the brunt of high prices of commodities as the domestic market remains indifferent to the global price fall.
The Russia-Ukraine war sent shockwaves through the global economy in early 2022, driving up the prices of essential commodities such as rice, soya bean oil, sugar and wheat.
Bangladesh, which sources the bulk of its essentials from international markets, had also been heavily affected by that price fluctuation.
However, while the initial months of the conflict created widespread volatility, global commodity prices began to ease from 2023 onwards. However, Bangladesh local market was unable to respond to the global market and adjust to the price fall.
According to The Pink Sheet, World Bank鈥檚 commodity price data, global commodity prices in many cases are now lower than what they were before the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
Economists in Bangladesh have said that due to the depreciation of the local currency taka against the dollar over the past few years, Bangladeshi consumers have not been benefited from this global decline.
Weak management and a lack of monitoring also played a vital role in this regard, they added.
According to The Pink Sheet, rice, the staple food of Bangladesh, witnessed a significant price decline over the past years on the international market.
In January 2022, the global price of rice (Thailand) was about $419-$427 a tonne, and it rose to $644 a tonne in December 2023, but is currently at $376-$392 a tonne.
During the period, the prices of rice on the local market witnessed a sharp hike, from Tk 50-60 a kilogram in March 2022 to Tk 60-85 a kilogram in August 2025, according to the Trading Corporation of Bangladesh.
In January 2022, the prices of soya bean, soya bean oil and palm oil were $660, $1,470 and $1,345 a tonne, respectively. In March 2022, after the Ukraine crisis emerged, the prices climbed to $721, $1,957 and $1,777 a tonne. However, from the following year, prices started declining on the global market, and in July 2025, the prices were $410, $1,310 and $975 a tonne, respectively, according to The Pink Sheet data.
But on the local market, in March 2022, the prices of soya bean oil were Tk 170 a litre, which increased to Tk 173 in December 2023 and Tk 190 in August 2025, according to the TCB data.
The prices of palm oil were Tk 160 a litre in March 2022 and Tk 164 a litre in August 2025.
On the global market, wheat (US) was sold at $332 a tonne in January 2022, which jumped to $532 a tonne in March 2022. However, it declined to $210 a tonne in July 2025, The Pink Sheet showed.
The prices of atta and maida were Tk 45 and Tk 60 a kilogram in March 2022, which increased to Tk 65 and Tk 75 in August 2025, respectively, according to the TCB data.
Since the Ukraine war, the price of sugar has remained almost static. From $0.4 a kilogram in February 2022, it stood at $0.42 a kilogram in March 2022. It decreased to $0.37 a kilogram in July 2025, even lower than the pre-Ukraine crisis.
However, the price of sugar in Bangladesh was Tk 80 a kilogram in March 2022, but it climbed to Tk 145 a kilogram in December 2023. It, however, decreased to Tk 110 a kilogram in August 2025, but never returned to the pre-Ukraine war level.
Mustafizur Rahman, a distinguished fellow of the Centre for Policy Dialogue, a local think tank, said that the depreciation of the taka offset the benefits.
鈥楾hough the global prices decreased, but in the US dollar. In the meantime, our taka has been depreciated more,鈥� he said.
According to Bangladesh Bank data, the exchange of the taka against the US dollar was Tk聽86 in February 2022, which rose to Tk聽110 in December 2023 and Tk聽122 in August 2025.
Mustafizur also said that there were still no proper sources of data on supply and demand, which had accelerated the poor management.
鈥楾he government couldn鈥檛 take any proactive measures regarding the price hike, which was also a reason,鈥� he added.
He also stated that the lack of proper monitoring of the commodity鈥檚 supply chain was responsible for the high prices on the domestic market.
According to the Commodity Market Outlook report of the World Bank, the commodity prices are set to fall sharply this year, by about 12 per cent overall, as weakening global economic growth weighs on demand. Moreover, the commodity prices are projected to decline by another 5 per cent in the next year, reaching a six-year low.
鈥楾he anticipated commodity price softening is broad-based, however, with more than half of the commodities in the forecast set to decrease this year, many by more than 10 per cent,鈥� the report added.
Md Shafiul Ather Taslim, director (finance and operations) at TK Group, a leading importer of consumer goods, told 抖阴精品 that the prices remained slightly higher due to almost 52 per cent depreciation of the taka against the dollar.
鈥楳oreover, domestic issues like energy and fuel price increase, wage hike, and transport cost rise also impacted the business operations. The prices couldn鈥檛 be seen only through the World Bank data, we should include domestic issues too,鈥� he added.
Bangladesh鈥檚 general inflation slightly rose to 8.55 per cent in July 2025 from 8.48 per cent a month earlier, driven mainly by higher food prices, according to the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics.
Food inflation rose to 7.56 per cent in July, up from 7.39 per cent in June, reflecting continued strain on household spending.
A senior commerce ministry official said that the domestic prices remained broadly consistent with international trends.
