Onion was still selling at higher prices in kitchen markets yesterday (Saturday) in the capital and elsewhere in the country, with traders proffering the excuse of supply disruptions caused by last week’s strike by the workers and owners of trucks and covered vans. The price of the item went up by Tk. 10 to 20 a kilogram in the city markets last Friday, and remained the same yesterday. The local variety was selling for Tk. 200–210 while the imported Egyptian and Chinese varieties for Tk. 150–160 a kilogram. The locally produced hybrid variety was retailing at Tk. 180–190 and the Myanmar variety at Tk. 160–170. Khalil Jaman, a wholesaler at Karwan Bazar, said he has been selling local onion at Tk. 180–185 per kg since Friday morning as demand has pushed up the prices.
Talking to the correspondent, Moniruzzman Kazal, the owner of a departmental store in West Kazipara, said that compared to Thursday, the price of each kilogram of onion again rose Tk. 20 to Tk. 30 more since the truck and covered-van drivers went on strike on Wednesday.
Mohammad Jewel, a wholesale trader of Karwanbazar, said the price of onion had come down to Tk. 170 but it has again shot up to near Tk. 200 now. Another wholesale trader, Hridoy Mollik at Karwanbazar, said: “There used to be huge crowds here to buy onions a few days ago. But now no-one comes to buy. People don’t use onions for cooking because of the high prices. Even street hawkers don’t use onion in their street foods.”
Commerce minister Tipu Munshi said onion prices will come down within 10 days with the arrival of the new harvest in the market. Some 12,000 tonnes of onions have been imported from foreign sources and will reach Chattogram port on November 29, said the minister. He explained that Bangladesh has to import 25 per cent of its onions to meet local demand. Of these, 90 per cent are imported from India, but, unfortunately, India banned its onion exports to Bangladesh on September 29. This has caused the problem, he added.
“The imported onions are yet to be supplied to the market because of transportation problems,” he said while talking to reporters after attending a seminar on ‘Ease of Doing Business: Way Forward’, organised by the Bangladesh Chamber of Industries (BCI) at a city hotel.