Per piece egg was sold at Tk15 in the country’s different kitchen markets on Saturday, which is Tk4 higher than the maximum production cost of Tk11 at farm level, making this staple food item unaffordable to many consumers.
A dozen eggs were sold at Tk 180 in the retail market on Saturday, which is over 36 per cent higher than the production cost of Tk132.
Speaking to several farmers, the Business Post found that the production cost of each egg was Tk11, while visiting different kitchen markets in the capital. It also found that each egg was sold at Tk15.
The Fisheries and Livestock Ministry is scheduled to sit for a dialogue with the stakeholders of the poultry industry on Sunday to rein in the spiralling egg prices in the domestic market.
It decided to hold the meeting when the Directorate of National Consumer Rights Protection failed to play any effective role in controlling the prices despite persistent efforts.
The meeting will be chaired by ministry secretary Nahid Rashid and other officials and businessmen from the poultry industry will attend. It is anticipated; that the ministry will fix a reasonable price of eggs at different stages at the meeting.
Farmers claimed that a profit from Tk 0.50 to Tk 0.75 per egg is enough for them while practically the price gap between farms to consumer level is huge.
According to industry insiders, a large portion of profit is going into the pockets of middlemen and for transport and additional expenses.
The government should set reasonable prices at all levels, including wholesale and retail as many opportunists were following additional profit strategies taking a chance of the price hike, they said.
The egg market became volatile in the last week. Within a week, the price of a dozen eggs increased from Tk 140 to Tk 165 posting a Tk 20-25 hike.
Meanwhile, for the past six or seven days, wholesalers have been buying 100 eggs at Tk 1200 to Tk 1250 and retailers are buying each of these eggs at Tk13 to Tk 13.50 and selling them with only Tk 1 profit, the retail trader said. They blamed farmers and wholesalers for the rapid price hike.
On Saturday, four pieces of eggs were being sold at Tk 55-60 in the capital's retail market.
Last Friday, the Directorate of National Consumer Rights Protection started a round-the-clock drive in retail and wholesale markets to find out the causes behind the price hike. As a part of that, the organisation also fined three traders for cheating the consumers at Kaptan Bazar in the capital on Saturday.
Bangladesh Poultry Industries Central Council BPICC President Shamsul Arefin Khaled, according to the calculations of the Bangladesh Poultry Industry Association, the production cost of an egg is currently around Tk 11.
Now farmers can make a profit from Tk 0.50 to Tk 0.75. In that case, each egg should be sold at Tk 11.50 in farms and the prices may reach a maximum of Tk 13 to Tk 13.50 at retail level, he said.
Surely some group is making an excess profit in the supply chain, Shamsul Arefin said, adding the government should sit down with everyone and fix a reasonable price on how much profit should be made from farmers to retailers.
