Steps to be taken to stabilise onion price: TCB chairman

Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB) Chairman Brigadier General AKM Iqbal yesterday assured the wholesalers of Chittagong’s Khatunganj market of taking measures to stabilise onion prices.
He made the comment while visiting Chittagong’s Khatunganj market, one of the largest wholesale commodity markets of the country, to look into the causes behind the exorbitant prices of onion.Contacted, Syed Sagir Ahmed, secretary of Khatunganj Trade and Industries Association, told The Independent that they discussed various issues including volatile prices of onions in the domestic market with the TCB chairman.
The wholesalers put forward some specific recommendations for stablising the onion market and the TCB chairman assured them of taking measures in this regard.
Increasing the production of onions will help to decrease the price as importing from India is not always fruitful, a wholesaler said.
 Sagir alleged that the banks do not show any particular interest in opening Letter of Credit for importing onions as it is a perishable item. He also added that the price of the onions will reduce if the transportation cost comes down.  
The wholesalers also called for using Chittagong Port instead of Teknaf land-port for importing onion from Myanmar.
“The onion market is going to be stable again as consignment of onion from Pakistan, China, Turkey, Egypt are underway. We hope that the retail price might come down to Tk 60 a Kg within a very short time,” hoped Sagir.
The meeting was attended by Abul Hossain, Chittagong additional deputy commissioner, and Jamal Hossain, secretary of Chaktai Shilpa and Bebosayee Samity, among others.

Steps to be taken to stabilise onion price: TCB chairman

Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB) Chairman Brigadier General AKM Iqbal yesterday assured the wholesalers of Chittagongs Khatunganj market of taking measures to stabilise onion prices. He made the comment while visiting Chittagongs Khatunganj market, one of the largest wholesale commodity markets of the country, to look into the causes behind the exorbitant prices of onion.Contacted, Syed Sagir Ahmed, secretary of Khatunganj Trade and Industries Association, told The Independent that they discussed various issues including volatile prices of onions in the domestic market with the TCB chairman. The wholesalers put forward some specific recommendations for stablising the onion market and the TCB chairman assured them of taking measures in this regard. Increasing the production of onions will help to decrease the price as importing from India is not always fruitful, a wholesaler said. Sagir alleged that the banks do not show any particular interest in opening Letter of Credit for importing onions as it is a perishable item. He also added that the price of the onions will reduce if the transportation cost comes down. The wholesalers also called for using Chittagong Port instead of Teknaf land-port for importing onion from Myanmar. The onion market is going to be stable again as consignment of onion from Pakistan, China, Turkey, Egypt are underway. We hope that the retail price might come down to Tk 60 a Kg within a very short time, hoped Sagir. The meeting was attended by Abul Hossain, Chittagong additional deputy commissioner, and Jamal Hossain, secretary of Chaktai Shilpa and Bebosayee Samity, among others.