Onion prices drop in Ctg
Onions became Tk 20-25 cheaper per kilogramme (kg) in the last three times thanks to declining prices in the Khatunganj low cost hub and increased attempts from dealers to import your kitchen staple from 8 countries.
At various retail marketplaces, onions were sold at Tk 60 to Tk 65 per kg yesterday, down from Tk 80 to as high as Tk 100 from three days back.
"In Khatunganj, the wholesale rates hovered between Tk 50-55 per kg yesterday against Tk 65-70 a couple of days back," Habibur Rahman, a good retail investor of the Kazir Dewri kitchen marketplace, told The Daily Celebrity.
Rates skyrocketed when India stopped transport onions to Bangladesh on September 14, pushing the wholesale cost to Tk 80 per kg while it was Tk 90-95 per kg for retail.
An increasing number of letters of credit rating opened by traders to import onions from countries apart from India helped tame the price, according industry insiders.
By yesterday, some 65 traders sought authorization to import 118,727 tonnes of onion from China, Egypt, Pakistan, the Netherlands, Myanmar, Turkey, Thailand and New Zealand, according to data from the Plant Quarantine Center at Chattogram Port.
The imports are scheduled to attain Chittagong Interface by the initial week of October, several traders said.
Because the Indian export ban, onion rates increased by around $100-120 per tonne going to $350-360 at international marketplaces, said Omar Faroque, an importer.
Onions will definitely cost around Tk 41-44 per kg to attain Chattogram port and yet another Tk 3-7 per kg will be needed to send those to the low cost market, he added.
In the two-and-a-half-months lead up to the ban, around 100 importers brought in 122,000 tonnes of onion in 2,105 consignments from India, according to data from the National Board of Revenue.
The common price of the onions imported through the Hili, Sonamasjid, Bhomra and Benapole land ports was Tk 15.13 per kg in the past.
