Onion prices shoot up by Tk 10 per kg in two days

The prices of onion started increasing again in the city's retail market adding to woes of the commoners.

The government's measures to ease imports as well as an expected bumper production hardly could put impact as retail prices of both local and imported onion rose to Tk 50-Tk 60 a kilogram on Monday which was Tk 40-Tk 50 a kg two days back.

However, retailers, especially city grocers and wholesalers were blaming each other for the hike in onion prices.

Onion prices witnessed a notable hike in the first week of June when prices shot up by 30-40 percent which traders attributed to low imports as well as stockpile by district-level traders and big farmers.

Due to the rising trend, the government started issuing import permits (IPs) to traders which was almost closed unofficially since February for the concern of farmers following the local onion harvesting season, a commerce ministry official said.

However, IP issuance helped reduce the prices of onion to its previous level of Tk 40-Tk 50 a kg by the second week of June, according to the Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB).

But the prices started increasing again notably in the retail market from Sunday evening, said sources.

Abu Taleb, a grocer at Durga Mandir Goli in Rayer Bazar, said the prices of both local and imported onion increased by Tk 5.0-Tk 8.0 a kg at Sadeq Khan Agricultural Wholesale Market.

Local and imported Burmese onions were trading at Tk 45-Tk 48 a kg in the wholesale market which was Tk 38-Tk 40 a kg two days back, he added.

Abdur Rashid, a spice trader at Sadeq Khan Market, said the prices increased only by Tk 1.5-Tk 2.0 a kg but grocers were charging much higher.

Narayan Chandra Saha, a Shyambazar-based trader in the city, said the prices of onion remained almost static in the market for last seven days when it was selling at Tk 37-Tk 40 a kg (local) and Tk 32-Tk 36 a kg (imported varieties).

Mr Saha pointed out that rain had been disrupting retail sales of onion, causing a hike.

He said a large number of retailers in the city usually sell onion using human-run vans.

They had squeezed spice trade following random raining for last few days, he added.

"Our sale has also dropped by 20-25 per cent following the retailers' absence," said Mr Saha, adding that there is no shortage of onion now due to a good harvest in the country.

Meanwhile, the government has made imports easier to keep the prices of the key spice stable.

According to the commerce ministry, the Bangladesh High Commission in New Delhi, India has recently recommended importing onion from India during the June-July period to avail competitive advantages to meet a possible shortfall of the spice.

Bangladesh is expecting 2.4 million tonnes of onion output against 2.5-2.6 million tonnes of demand, according to the agriculture ministry.

The production of onion was 1.97 million tonnes in 2020 while the shortfall was met through imports from Egypt, Turkey, Myanmar, China, Pakistan and India.

Bangladesh has squeezed onion imports from India in recent years following a sudden ban on onion export by the neighbouring country in September 2019 which made the onion market volatile in Bangladesh as prices shot up to maximum Tk 290 a kg at that time.