Business Desk :
The price of onions increased by Tk10-15 per kg over the last two weeks, now retailing for Tk50-55 for the local variant and Tk60 per kg for the imported kind – up from Tk40-45 last month.
It experienced a 33% monthly hike for local variants from Tk40 per kg, and 21% for imported ones from Tk45 per kg, both from last month.
Retailers said that the price of onion may spike further as there was no chance to import Indian onions before Eid-ul-Azha.
The rising prices remain unexplained as it is the peak harvesting season for local onions. “Vendors are citing a lack of import of Indian onions for the price hike,” said Mojaffar Hossain, a customer from Karwan Bazar.
He also said that while there are plenty of local onions in the market, retailers were raising prices while maintaining a strong syndicate with onion wholesalers.
However, a vendor from Karwan Bazar said that they had nothing to do in these cases as they had to buy vegetables at high prices from wholesalers.
Wholesalers said that prices were up as imported onions were scarce in the market. Moreover, demand has also increased ahead of Eid-ul-Azha, he added.
Earlier, the Agriculture Ministry imposed a ban on importing Indian onions from May 6 to protect the interest of local farmers.
Since then, the government has not issued an import permit (IP) for onion imports.
Traders said that the importers have not received any IP for two months, and the supply of imported onions was rapidly depleting.
Moreover, many local farmers lost their onions due to the recent floods in different districts which has also intensified the supply crunch and pushed prices up.
Prices of potatoes also increased by Tk5 per kg, currently sold at Tk30 which was Tk25 last week.
The prices of rice, lentils, flour and beef remain unchanged in kitchen markets, as there was adequate supply in the market for all.
The price of finer variants of rice (Miniket/Nazir) was sold at Tk80 per kg as of July1, which was Tk70-Tk75 two weeks ago, and Tk68 last month.
Paizam and Lata variants were sold at Tk64 per kg, which was Tk62 two weeks ago, and Tk46-56 last month.
The coarse variant, on which the middle and lower-income people rely primarily, was being sold at Tk53 per kg, which was Tk48-52 per kg two weeks ago, and Tk45 last month, data from Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB) said.
Loose whole wheat flour (atta) was sold at Tk45 per kg and packed whole wheat flour was sold at Tk55 per kg in local markets.
Loose AP flour was sold at Tk60 per kg, while the packed ones cost Tk70 per kg in various kitchen markets of the capital.
The price of tomatoes hit double century before the Eid, Tk200 per kg, while ginger was being sold at Tk140 for local variants and Tk100 per kg for imported ones.
Imported garlic is being sold at Tk130 and the local variety of garlic at Tk80 per kg.
The price of carrot and green chilies were also on the rise last week.
However, the prices of broiler chickens dropped slightly in the capital’s kitchen markets thanks to an ample supply of the item.
Currently, the variant is being sold at Tk155-Tk160 per kg.
But prices of most vegetables went up by Tk5-10 per item on average.
The price of vegetables were also up, as snake gourd (Chichinga), sponse gourd (Dhundul) and ribbed gourd (Jhinga) were sold at Tk50-Tk60 per kg, which were Tk40-Tk50 per kg last week.
The price of ladies’ finger, pointed gourd, and papaya also saw a hike of at least Tk10 per kg to Tk60-Tk65 per kg.
Eggplants experienced a hike of Tk15 per kg to Tk70 per kg, while cucumber was sold at Tk90-Tk100 per kg.
