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week at city markets and many other parts in the country, surprising
many who could not find any reason for the sudden price rise.
Prices of edible oil and sugar, however, simmered off as supply of
the items increased from imports. Retailed between Tk 36 and Tk 40
per kilogram on Friday, Indian onion became costlier by at least Tk
12 in a week. Up by Tk 6 per kilogram, local variety of onions was
retailed between Tk 44 and Tk 50. Onion stared becoming costlier
from the end of the previous week with wholesale markets saw drastic
declines on its supply from India, the major source of the highly
consumed spice. 'As Indian exporters were unable to send adequate
consignments, an unusual supply shortage pushed onion prices up,'
said Sharifuzzaman, a Shyambazar trader. More than 150 trucks
loaded with Indian onion usually enter Shyamabar during a normal
supply period. But the number of trucks went down to 50 in the past
one week. Quoting onion importers, traders at Shyambazar, told New
Age that mid-September's heavy rains and flash floods damaged onion
stocks in the Southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu. During the off
harvest months, around two- thirds of onion demand in Bangladesh
market are meet by imported Indian onions. With more than half a
million tonnes annual import, Bangladesh remains the top buyer of
Indian onion. An importer affiliated with the Dhaka Metropolitan
Perishable Importers Association, informed New Age that Indian
authority on Tuesday revised minimum export price for Bangladesh-
bound onion consignments. They re- fixed the price upward to $355 per
tonne from previous $270. The National Agriculture Federation of
India, NAFED, a government-administered organisation, revises export
prices of agriculture commodities twice a month after reviewing local
production and demand situations. But this time MEP was revised
upward twice in the past week to discourage exports, fearing local
supply crunch and price hike of onion as floods in southern India
badly damaged onion stock. Besides onion, different varieties of
ginger also became costlier by Tk 10 over the week. The spice was
retailed between Tk 60 and Tk 90 per kilogram on Friday, Prices of
some other special spices increased sharply in the past week. Up
Tk 400 per kilogram, price of cardamom of different size and origins
reached soared to Tk 1, 800. Up by Tk 200 per kilogram, Alu Bukhara
was retailed between Tk 600 and Tk 700 on Friday at New Market in the
city. New Market traders said wholesale prices of cumin, clove,
peeper, raisin and some other spices were on increase for the past
few days. Markets sources said some importers are manipulating
prices of these spices. 'Importers are eyeing windfall profits on
their deliveries to retailers, who are preparing to make stocks for
Eid Ul Azha,' a New Market trader said. Retailed between Tk 68 and
Tk 72, non-packed palm oil became cheaper by Tk 4 in a week as
market sources said falling international prices pushed down
wholesale prices of cooking oils. Following increases in the
previous two weeks, rice prices found stable in the week. Market
sources said adequate supply of paddy in rural markets and optimistic
forecasts on the upcoming Aman harvest cooled down the uptrend.
Vegetables, fish, chicken and meats prices remained almost unchanged
in the week.
