Challenges of Bangladesh Lubricants Market
By Zulker Naeen
Lubricants market now belongs to an uncontrolled trade in our country. Surprisingly, the lubricants shelves are already inflated with more than 100 brands and the number of brands is increasing.
The situation is degraded as so many by name, local products are penetrating into this market. Regularly, traders are welcoming the representatives of newly entered brands too.
Already, business Insiders has depicted this lubricants market as a silent trade with a lack of regulations.
A market with too many brands is not only the challenges of this market. The sale of recycled engine oils, especially by the names of popular brands is a key barrier too, has increased in the remote areas due to lax monitoring by any concerned authorities.
Sources said that engine oils are being adulterated in two ways. Mostly, unscrupulous traders mix paraffine based stocks with recycled oils collected from the marine and various manufacturing industries.
In absence of paraffine, they use kerosene oil to adulterate the engine oils. Then those are supplied to the users. However, due to lower prices of ground oils, compared to the virgin base oil, dishonest traders are more encouraged to market recycled oils.
Only for the low prices, these least quality lubricants have been swayed by the market.
Hundreds of dealers and agents are involved in distributing of such lower standard engine oil.
It has found no administration is solely responsible for controlling the adulteration rather than a few raids by the special mobile court.
Fuel Adulteration in Bangladesh
In a roundabout way, the sale of impure fuels is another challenge of this trade. Mostly, unscrupulous fuel traders mix a high proportion of condensate with fuel oils like diesel, petrol and octane. And, the condensate can be mixed easily because of its similarity with other oils.
The refineries generally buy condensates produced in gas fields run by state-owned Petrobangla and other international oil companies under a government contract to produce fuels such as petrol, diesel, octane, and kerosene.
Earlier, BPC has issued show-cause notices to over 1500 agents, dealers, and distributors for their alleged involvement in illicit fuel trade and adulteration.
Still now, a section of dishonest fuel oil traders in different region procure the crude condensate from the gas fields with low price and mix it with the fuel oils rampantly.
These issues that discussed above are the key barriers that made this market unrestrained one. However, the govt. should act strongly to monitor this market for the well-being of this trade.
