Flour, after 66% price jump, now costs as much as rice

Flour has become as expensive as rice, the staple food of Bangladesh, putting pressure on low-wage earners. 

Prices of atta or wheat flour, and maida or refined flour, have surged up to Tk35 per kg in the last one year, a jump of up to 66 per cent. 

According to the Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB) data, loose flours were sold at Tk55-75 per kg in the capital’s market on Saturday, while rice prices hovered between Tk52-75 a kg.

Packet atta-maida were priced between Tk63 to 82 per kg, while rice packets are now available from Tk60 to Tk76 per kg.

According to TCB, a year ago, loose atta and maida were sold at Tk32 to Tk42, while rice prices stood between Tk 50-56.

The exorbitant prices of the country’s two most consumed foods have raised concerns for low-wage earners, who are already burdened by the rising inflation. The high prices of rice and flour have also raised the fear of malnutrition as consumption of the foods is expected to decrease.

Price not dropping after surge

Atta-maida prices in Bangladesh began to rise after wheat from Russia and Ukraine, two of the biggest wheat producers globally, halted after Russia invaded the neighbouring country. Amid the supply crunch, India, another top wheat exporter, put a ban on exporting the food.

On top of these, a volatile forex market caused by a strong dollar has further exacerbated the problem as local importers struggled to open letters of credit (LCs). 

However, even when wheat prices came down in the global market, the fall was not reflected locally.

Wheat prices in the international market have increased by 23.80 per cent in the last one year, according to IndexMundi, a data portal which gathers global facts and statistics from multiple sources.

In September last year, wheat prices in the international market stood at $337.55 per tonne. Following the war in Ukraine, prices of the essential commodity rose to $522 per tonne in March this year, before dropping down to $417.90 in September.

Hopes of private wheat import

India is currently exporting wheat against LCs opened before the ban.

Importers, who operate through Hili Land Port, said they would be able to bring wheat into the country till 31 October.

In addition, Russia is exporting wheat on a government-to-government level, raising hopes for private importers.

Biswajit Saha, director of City Group, told The Business Post, “We are looking into whether we can import wheat from Russia. AS import began at the government level, we hope that it will be available for private imports soon.

But opening LCs for the imports will be a big issue in this case as the central bank has imposed strict rules due to the dollar crisis, he said.