Import news cuts onion prices at Khatunganj

Even after Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi’s announcement of onion imports, the essential kitchen item has been selling at Tk 79-80 per kg for the past few days in Chattogram’s Khatunganj, the country’s largest wholesale market of consumer goods.

However, the news of Indian onion-carrying trucks entering Khatunganj has caused the price to decrease to Tk 70-72 per kg.

Meanwhile, Chattogram’s retail markets are still selling onion at Tk 90-100 per kg. Traders say prices will quickly come down if the supply is maintained.

They said one-third of the country’s total onion sourcing is dependent on imports. Although there is a high demand for local onion in the country, the imported variety, especially from India’s Nashik, is mostly consumed in Chattogram.

However, due to the government’s import halt since March 15 this year, consumers have become dependent on locally produced onion. Bangladesh was one of the biggest markets for the onion grown in Nashik, Kanpur, and other South Indian states.

Due to the import halt, local onion price has risen to the highest level. Besides, traders put up notices in their shops that say onion from India or Myanmar are not available.

Traders in Khatunganj said it rained constantly on Tuesday and there will be water-logging in depots if the rain continues, which will spoil the goods.

They said onion is one of the most perishable items and the slight decrease in prices is mainly due to the rain and the news of import from India.

President of Chaktai-Khatunganj Artaddar General Traders Welfare Association Jahangir Alam said, “If 20-25 trucks carrying onion entered Khatunganj two days ago, it would have been local onion.

“But three to four trucks out of 20 that entered the market on Wednesday were from India. The prices slightly decreased due to the news of Indian onion. If full-fledged imports resume, the price will decrease by half.”

Also, on May 21, Chattogram’s Executive Magistrate Omar Faruk conducted a raid on Khatunganj’s onion depots where he said, “We raided three onion depots and saw that the selling price was higher than the purchase price.”

“Those depots have been fined and given strict warnings. We have been monitoring the market, and the price has increased because of some dishonest traders and middlemen,” he said.