Nepali cooking oil producers import raw oil from the international market to a larger extent.

Retailers said most of the wholesalers have already hiked the prices, while some others are planning to increase the rates.

Soybean and sunflower oil now cost Rs125-135 per litre, against Rs115-125 a month ago. Similarly, mustard oil price is also set to rise.

“The price of crude oil is high in the international market itself. Also, the strengthening of the US dollar against the Nepali rupee has forced us to hike the prices,” said Kumud Dugar, managing director of KL Dugar Group, that sells edible oil under Swastik, Dhara and Bigul brands.

KL Dugar has hiked the prices of soybean and sunflower oil by Rs 60 per 10-litre carton.

Dugar said they plan to increase the prices of mustard oil too. “Chances are high the mustard oil price could go up by Rs 10 per litre as mustard price in India is high,” he said. “Mustard, which used to cost Rs3,500 per quintal some months ago, now costs Rs4,200 per quintal.”

According to the traders, around 85 percent of mustard is imported from India. Dugar said the government should come up with plans to promote Nepali agriculture.

Shree Krishna Oil Refinery, which refines edible oil under Diamond and Nitya Fresh brands, said the prices would go up by Rs2-Rs4 per litre. Manish Agrawal, owner of the refinery, said Nepal’s dependency on other countries has affected consumers badly. “We have to depend on other countries for everything,” he said. “We have seen more than 2 percent rise in the dollar value within a month.”

The traders said Argentina and Brazil are the major exporters of soybean oil to Nepal. Other exporting countries are Indonesia, Vietnam, India, Paraguay, Belize and Ukraine.