Wheat flour and flour-made food items have witnessed a 20-22-percent hike in last two months, although import of the grain rose by a great margin so far this year.
Insiders said local companies raised the prices of all flour and flour-made products at a time when the global rate has fallen to a record low in the last six months.
Coarse flour or atta (loose) prices shot up to Tk 52-56 a kg while branded packet atta hits Tk 65-66 - a Tk 10 hike per kg in the last two months, according to city groceries.
Finer flour or maida (loose) prices shot up to Tk 68-70 a kg and packet maida to Tk 75-78 - a Tk 8.0-10 hike a kg during the period.
However, the prices of the item have been increasing at a time when global prices are showing a record low and local imports witnessed a notable surge.
Bangladesh imported 3.7-million tonnes of wheat so far in the current fiscal year (FY24), which was nearly 2.62-million tonnes in the corresponding period of FY23 - a 41-per cent surge.
The overall wheat import was 3.9-million tonnes in FY23. The private sector comprises above 80 per cent of the import, according to the Directorate General of Food.
Meanwhile, food ministry data shows the government itself has purchased an estimated 0.4-million tonnes of wheat this fiscal for its safety-net programmes.
Farm economist Prof Dr SM Kamruzzaman said global prices have declined by 30-35 per cent in the last one year. The government should take it into account while dealing with wheat and flour.
He said the price was reviewed downward by companies during the September-October period last year. Yet, they were raising the prices again even when global price plummeted to a record low.
He said the maximum import cost of wheat per kg, including transportation and other costs, was not more than Tk 37 for now.
According to commodity portal 'businessinsiders.com', wheat price was $215 a tonne on 22 February 2024, which was $248 in September 2023 and $300 in February 2023.
When asked, Consumers Association of Bangladesh (CAB) vice-president SM Nazer Hossain said importers-cum-companies were selling 20 pieces of frozen parathas at Tk 320, which weigh 1,300 grams (1.3 kg).
The maximum production cost of those parathas should be Tk 150, but the traders are making more than 100-per cent profits, he observed.
According to Mr Hossain, a bread packet weighing 400 gram now retails at minimum Tk 45 by automated factories, although their production cost is less than half their price.
Importers and their factories fix prices at their sweet will for lack of strong monitoring, he said.
The CAB executive said millions of low-income groups have even cut back food intakes for market volatility caused by major commodity companies.
A director of The City Group, one of the leading importers and commodity companies, said import has become squeezed in recent months amid the sky-rocketing dollar crisis.
Importers could not settle letters of credit amid a volatile dollar market.
He said the import cost of North American grain, including shipping charges, is still $360-380 a tonne, which his company provides to the consumers.
The director said price of the item should be lesser if companies could source US dollars at official rate.
Bangladesh consumes 5.0-7.0-million tonnes of wheat annually of which it produces only 1.0-million tonnes. The shortage is met through imports.
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