Staff Reporter :
Prices of almost all varieties of rice have jumped up by Tk 3 per kg in the city’s markets blaming heavy rain amid floods and the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
Mill owners blamed paddy price hike for increasing the rice price across the country.
Food Minister Sadhon Chandra Majumder, however, said that some dishonest traders in the capital have increased the rice prices to destabilize the market, although the price is yet to soar outside the capital.
“We have already been informed about the price hike and ordered the authorities concern and RAB to conduct mobile court to control the rice market immediately,” Majumder told The New Nation on Sunday.
He further said there is no chance of rice price hike as the country has substantial rice stocks.
Refusing the Minister’s statement, AK Khorshed Alam Khan, President of the Bangladesh Auto Rice Mill Owners’ Association, said that enhancement of the price of paddy is the main reason behind the rice price hike.
Besides, the rice market is manipulated by a strong syndicate but the ministry does not care about the syndicate, Alam added.
He also said the prices of the rice have also increased in the international markets like India, Thailand and Vietnam, the major rice imported destinations of Bangladesh.
Rice prices started spiralling in early August. Until Saturday, the prices rose by at least Tk 150 per 50kg.
Traders in Mirpur sold Miniket rice at Tk 2,500 to Tk 2,600 per 50kg sack, Nazirshail at Tk 2,550 to Tk 2,600, Paijam and Katari Bhog at Tk 2,300 and BR-28 at Tk 2,150 to Tk 2,200.
“I don’t understand why rice prices surged at a time when the harvest was good,” said Mohiuddin Harun, a wholesaler.
The government has allowed traders to import rice to boost supply as floods damaged crops, but the traders were not very keen, he said.
Rafiqul Islam, President of Naogaon District Rice Mill Association, said they had to raise the prices by the end of July because they bought paddy at high prices. One maund or 37.42kg of paddy costs Tk 1,100 to Tk 1,120 now.
The retail price of fine rice varieties, Nazirshail and Miniket, was Tk 55 to Tk 74 per kg on Saturday, up from Tk 50 to Tk 72 a week ago, according to the Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB).Prices of medium category rice — Paijam and Lota — rose to Tk 48-54 per kg on Saturday from Tk 44-50 a week earlier.
Sharna and Guti Sharna, the coarse rice varieties, retailed for Tk 44-48 per kg, up from Tk 40-45 a week earlier. Meanwhile, rice prices have also increased in the international markets like India, Thailand and Vietnam due to corona pandemic
India’s 5-per cent broken parboiled variety was quoted at $380-$385 per ton this week, up from last week’s $377-$382 per ton.
Thailand’s benchmark 5-per cent broken rice prices rose to $465-$483 on Thursday, from $450-$482 quoted last week, while in Vietnam, rates for 5-per cent broken rice stayed unchanged from a week earlier in the $440-$450 per ton range.
