Open market sale of onion began in the city on Tuesday. The photograph was taken from near Jatiya Press Club — FE photo Commerce ministry will strengthen its monitoring further to keep stable the prices of onion, the essential kitchen item, in the local market.
Commerce secretary Md Jafar Uddin said onion prices would be stable shortly as the government has taken effective steps to rein in its galloping prices.
He told the media on Tuesday after at a meeting with officials, importers and stakeholders on the recent hike in onion prices.
Onion production has been hampered in Maharashtra, India. Its increased rate there for flooding has pushed prices up in the Bangladesh market too, he said.
Earlier, the minimum export price (MEP) of onion was $250-300 per tonne. But it was steeply raised to $850 per tonne there, thus boosting its prices here.
Mr Jafar hinted at the adequate supply and stock of onion in the country, saying that a significant volume of the item is also in the import pipeline.
A huge gap exists between wholesale and retail prices. The authorities concerned are working to bridge the gap through strengthening the market watch, he said.
"We're considering importing onion from alternative sources, especially Myanmar, other than India."
A Bangladesh Tariff Commission (BTC) member Shah Md Abu Raihan Alberuni, however, told the meeting that onion prices would come down within the next 24 hours.
Currently, there is a stockpile of 2.8 million tonnes of onion in the country, he said.
Mr Alberuni expected the prices to be stable within the next one and a half months as it is the lean period of the item now.
Indian onion would be harvested in November and the local one in December, he mentioned.
Senior officials of commerce and agriculture ministries, Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB) chairman and an importer attended the meeting.
As per the BTC data, Bangladesh annually produces over 2.37 million tonnes of onion. The annual demand for onion is about 2.4 million tonnes.
About 30 per cent onion gets damaged during production locally. For this, about 1.0-1.1 million tonnes are needed to import, according to commerce ministry.
Mr Jafar said TCB started the open-market sale (OMS) of onion at a subsidised rate on Tuesday.
"We'll involve the port authorities in this effort. We'll write to them in a day or two," he mentioned.
Sources said a letter has been sent to the central bank, seeking steps to lessen the LC (letter of credit) margin and interest rate on credit for onion imports.
Steps have also been taken to speed up delivery of imported onion from ports and uninterrupted transportation to help stabilise its prices.
Ministry sources said 2,840 tonnes of onion are awaiting release at different land ports. As many as 142 trucks are waiting at Bhomra, Sonamasjid, Hili and Benapole ports.
Meanwhile, volatility in domestic onion market continued for the four consecutive days as prices further increased.
Even the TCB-sponsored OMS frustrated commoners amid a tiny supply on the first day.
However, 5,000 kg (five tonnes) of local onion from five points of the city ended only in a few hours, many customers claimed.
A person was allowed to buy a maximum of 2.0 kg of the spice at the rate of Tk 45 a kg.
However, the TCB sale of five tonnes could hardly put any impact on the mainstream market.
Local onion prices further increased to Tk 70-80 and imported Indian varieties to Tk 65-70 a kg at different kitchen markets on the day.
It was a Tk 5.0 hike in a day and Tk 15-20 a kg in the past four days.
TCB recorded 30-35 per cent hike in onion prices in between Saturday and Tuesday.
OMS was operated at Secretariat Gate, Bok Chattar in Motijheel, Jatrabari Kitchen Market, Mirpur Section-14 and Khamarbari points.
Rickshaw-puller Md Alal Hossain was seen bargaining with an OMS truck seller at the Secretariat Gate to buy onion at 1:30 pm but failed as stock ended.
Consumers Association of Bangladesh (CAB) secretary Humayun Kabir Bhuiyan said only five tonnes of onion for 3.5 million families in the city are simply risible.
The government should focus on the core reason behind such a sudden hike despite having an ample supply of both local and imported onion varieties, he cited.
Mr Bhuiyan accentuated a stronger market monitoring to prevent movement in onion prices mostly because of a syndicate of big importers and their allied traders.
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