Onion market unstable as prices up Tk 10

The onion market has become unstable as prices have gone up by Tk 10 per kg, reaching Tk 50 at the retail level and Tk 45 at wholesale compared to the last week of Ramadan.

Traders said the halt in onion imports from May 5 and the rise in edible oil as well as other essential commodity prices had caused onion prices to increase.

But government officials say prices should not rise as onion import and supply were adequate in the current fiscal year.

On Friday, retailers in different markets in the capital sold Pabna onion at Tk 50 per kg, Faridpur onion at Tk 45 per kg, Myanmar onion at Tk 50 per kg, and Indian onion at Tk 40 per kg. Only a small quantity of imported onion was seen in retail markets.

Md Gofran, a store owner at Karwan Bazar, said wholesalers were selling Indian onion at Tk 50 per kg.

He said Indian onion prices were high as imports had been banned. “Indian onions imported before the halt are being sold at Tk 50 per kg and prices may go up further.”

Karwan Bazar wholesalers sold 5kg Faridpur onion at Tk 180-200 and Pabna onion at Tk 210.

Wholesaler Shahidul Islam said, “Today’s prices are higher than last week. Prices have shot up by around 30 per cent on average compared to the last week of Ramadan.”

He said, “Now we are selling dry onion, which is around 30 per cent lighter than the new onion sold before Eid. That is why prices rose.”

Mamun, a wholesaler in Faridpur, said, “We sold onion at Tk 1,200-1,250 per maund today, up from Tk 900-950 last week. As prices of all commodities have increased and other expenditures have also risen, onion has become pricier.”

Ranjit Kumar Pal, director of the Plant Quarantine Wing under the Department of Agricultural Extension, said why prices had gone up could be known if the market situation was monitored well.

“After reviewing the overall situation and ensuring that there would be no crisis in the market, the decision to halt onion imports, mostly from India, was made,” he said.

At the Khatunganj market in Chattogram on Thursday, wholesale prices of local onion were Tk 32-33 per kg and Indian onion Tk 37-38 per kg.

Mohammad Idris, general secretary of Khatunganj Hamidullah Market Traders Welfare Association, said the market situation became volatile after the government had halted imports.

“With the onion production season coming to an end, the current stock will have to meet the demand for the whole year. That is why suppliers have reduced supply,” he said.

“Prices will go up due to a decline in supply, and this is very normal.”

Ranjit said the government had taken all possible measures to ensure that there was no shortage in onion production and supply.

“The government allowed the import of about 1.4 million tonnes of onion in the current financial year, but traders did not import even half of that,” he said.