Salt prices show no sign of falling despite commerce minister Tofail Ahmed's assurance right after Eid-Ul-Azha that they would go down. The skyrocketing of salt prices is nothing new, but this year it has remained at that level for the longest period. The market prices of both crude and refined salt have fluctuated quite a few times this year. The existing price of edible salt is Tk. 42 per kg.
“To stabilise the market, the government decided to import refined salt. But we've not felt any impact yet. The syndicates target any one commodity every year and drag up its price. Once, the price of pilaf rice rose from Tk. 50 to Tk. 120 overnight. This year, they have targeted salt. A few days ago, I used to buy a carton (25 kg) of salt for Tk. 910. It now costs Tk. 975. I am selling it to retailers at Tk. 40 per kg,” said a wholesaler in Karwan Bazar Nabi.
“Imported salt may be available in a month. This is likely to push down the price of crude salt. There was an occasion when we had to buy crude salt at Tk. 1,333 per 80 kg, but it later dropped to Tk. 1,000,” said a senior official of a renowned salt marketing company.
“The government permitted the opening of L/C (letter of credit) on September 1. It takes 30 days to get the shipment after a company opens the L/C. We are hoping to get the consignment by next month,” said Moniruzzaman Khan, assistant controller of import and export.
“Last year, we bought a bag of crude salt (74 kg) for Tk. 520–570, but this year it has gone up from Tk. 1,300 to Tk. 1,700. Yet, we had to buy it to preserve the cowhides and skins. As many as 60 per cent of the rawhide demands were fulfilled during Eid-Ul Azha,” said Bangladesh Hide and Skin Merchants’ Association chairman Delwar Hossain. According to the Bangladesh Small and Cottage Industries Corporation, the demand for salt was 16.58 lakh metric tonnes in 2015-2016 and the production was 15.55 lakh metric tonnes.