Media reports of India’s onion export ban have triggered a steep rise in onion prices in retail and wholesale markets across the country. The retail price of onion has now at 100 taka per kg and wholesale price at 75-80 taka in the capital’s kitchen markets.
An apex organization of marketing cooperatives for agricultural produce in India, National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (NAFED) suddenly set the export price of onion at $750 per metric tonne from Monday (September 14).
This has suspended all kinds of import of onions from India which, in turn, has negatively affected onion markets in Bangladesh.
Before, India was exporting onion at $250 per metric tonne. Now, to import onion from India, the price of previous LCs (Letter of Credit) has to be increased.
An official of commerce ministry involved with market monitoring cell, with the request of anonymity told The Business Post, “The kitchen market monitoring team will visit kitchen markets from tomorrow. If necessary, the monitoring team with a magisterial power will arrest any unscrupulous onion trader for suddenly spiking onion prices.”
Commerce ministry sources said Commerce Minister Tipu Munish will call a press conference Wednesday about the ban of Indian onion export and its possible impact on the market in Bangladesh.
Meanwhile, Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB) has already opened an LC to import 1 lakh ton onion from Turkey. Onion traders are selling one kg of onion to $0.06 in Istanbul, Turkey.
Sources in TCB said the Corporation is contemplating importing another 3 lakh ton onions from the Netherlands. Local onion traders will also import onion from Myanmar at a cheap rate.
On Tuesday, people waited in long lines for several hours to purchase a kg of onion at 30 taka from TCB truck sales.
Arifur Rahman, a resident of Gopibag area of Dhaka said, “I bought 4 kg local onion from the Gopibag bazar at 100 per kg.”
“Panic has set in among people,” he said, “As I walked out of the market with onion bags, within a few minutes at least seven people asked me about onion price.”
An onion trader of the same market, Sohel Chowdhury said, “Onion is selling at 100 taka today, tomorrow it may go up to 150 taka.”
General Secretary of the Biplobi Workers Party or Revolutionary Workers Party of Bangladesh (RWPB) Saiful Haque called on the government to take strict action to prevent any syndicate from raising onion prices.
In a statement on Tuesday (September 15), he said “Stopping onion export to Bangladesh is a manifestation of India's inhumane behaviour when it is often said that Bangladesh-India relation is at its peak.”
Saiful Haque added, "No honest and friendly neighbour can suddenly take such a step. Such a decision is not a sign of friendship when Bangladesh just decided to export hilsa fish to India ahead of the upcoming Durga Puja.”
Onion is an essential spice crop in Bangladesh. The total harvest onion in the country could surpass 22 lakh tonnes this year while the annual demand is 26 lakh tonnes.
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