Onions retail at a number of times the import price
The Khulna-based Sundarban Business received a consignment of 157 tonnes of onion at Bhomra territory port on 14 September. It originated from AA Business of India. The import price tag is usually Tk 25.70 per kg, according to customs papers.
The consignment was part of 45,695 tonnes of onion worth Tk 78.24 crore that were imported from the neighbouring region through Hili, Sona Masjid, Bhomra and Benapole in the first 2 weeks of September. The average price is Tk 17.16.
The onion came on 601 consignments by around 100 importers. In August, 34,155 tonnes of onion worth Tk 47.28 crore were imported from India through the four area ports. Average import value stood at Tk 13.87.
But the root vegetable was retailed at Tk 90 to Tk 100 per kg in the kitchen marketplaces in Chattogram yesterday, doubling from Tk 50 three days earlier.
This shows how some unscrupulous traders include jacked up the prices of the fundamental cooking ingredient, cashing in on the supply crunch in the household market, according to advertise observers.
The crisis stemmed from the Indian ban on onion exports from September 14 and a dwindling stock of locally-grown onions.
During a visit to Khatunganj, the greatest wholesale market in the united states, yesterday, it was discovered that almost all of wholesalers in the slot city aren't selling the item in hopes that the price would go up further.
The cost of onion has increased from Tk 35-40 to Tk 80-90 per kg in three days at the Khatunganj wholesale marketplace.
Mintu Sawdagar, a wholesaler on Khatunganj, said wholesalers offer onions at the purchase price preset by importers plus they get 2-3 3 per cent in commission.
According to Asaduzzaman, a great importer and proprietor of Shah Amanat Investors, when there is a crisis available in the market, then the import price will not become a major deal.
"The demand suddenly increased as a result of fear of a cost hike," he said, adding that the same happens when source exceeds demand when items need to be sold at a lower rate than they happen to be imported at.
Around 15-20 % of total onion gets rotten coming to the neighborhood market, he said.
Many traders have opened up letters of credit to import onion from China, Egypt, Pakistan, holland and Myanmar in the last few times. The price would stabilise after 2-3 weeks when the brand new consignments arrive, relating to importers.
They say onion value has risen by $100-120 per tonne to $460 to $480 in the international marketplace after India banned exports.
The import price of the upcoming consignments will be Tk 41 to Tk 44 per kg. The transfer cost would put another Tk 3 to Tk 7 per kg before they become obtainable in the wholesale marketplace, they said.
Twenty-five dealers have submitted paperwork to import 58,000 tonnes of onion from China, Egypt, Pakistan, holland, Myanmar, Turkey, Thailand and Different Zealand, according to data from the Plant Quarantine Center at the Chattogram Slot.
The onion will be arriving on the port by the start of October.
India on Monday prohibited exports of onion due to prices trebled in a month after excessive rainfall reach crops in southern claims.
Wholesale prices found in India's major onion trading hub, Lasalgaon found in the western talk about of Maharashtra, have nearly trebled in per month to $408.52 per tonne, Reuters reported.
Bangladesh's annual onion production potential has been steady at 17-18 lakh tonnes going back three years but a further 11 lakh tonnes had to be imported each year throughout that time as good to meet the supply deficit, according to data from the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics.
Imports declined 33 per cent year-on-yr to 8 lakh tonnes in the primary nine weeks of the ongoing fiscal calendar year, the BBS info showed. India is the biggest distributor of onions to Bangladesh.
In September last year, India as well imposed a ban on the export of onions, prompting the price of the kitchen staple to reach to as great as Tk 250 per kg in Bangladesh.
