Onion and sugar price rise in Bangladeshi market

The prices of onion and sugar increased further in the city's markets over the week. Onion per kilogram was retailed for Tk 34-Tk 40 on Friday in the city, up by Tk 6 in just three or four days, as decrease of supply from India has caused a fresh hike in its prices. Each kilogram of sugar cost between Tk 58 and Tk 60, up by Tk 4 in a week, on Friday in various retail outlets in the city. The price of onion was declining in the previous few weeks when the early harvested local stocks of onion hit the market, but essential spice became dearer due to the shortage in India. During the off-harvest months at least two-third of Bangladesh's demand for onion is met by India, but the dependence remains significant even after the harvest of local onion. Traders at Shyambazar told New Age that unusual rains a couple of months back damaged the crop in the major onion producing regions, and the dip in export by neighbouring countries is affecting Bangladeshi markets unfavourably. Bangladesh, which imports around half a million tonnes of onion annually, is the largest market for Indian onion exporters. Market sources said that the fresh uptrend in sugar prices in the international market has made Bangladesh's import-dependent sugar market volatile, and the crisis in India has played a major role. Sugar price has shot up by Tk 8 per kilogram in a month and doubled in a year. The Trading Corporation of Bangladesh's daily market report shows that the retail price of sugar was Tk 31- 34 per kilogram on 28 January, 2009. The previous period of volatility in the international market pushed up the sugar price to a record Tk 66 per kilogram in mid-September last year. Alleged hoarding and supply manipulation by a section of refiners and wholesalers had caused the September crisis, and the retail price came down to Tk 48-50 by the middle of December last year.