Hilsa prices plunge on supply glut

Prices of Hilsa dropped steeply on Friday, just a night before Pahela Baishakh, the first day of Bangla calendar year, due to a supply glut with low demand, traders said.

Prices of the national delicious fish, which skyrocketed to Tk 1,350-Tk 1,850 a kg on Thursday, came down to Tk 700-Tk 1,250 a kilogram in many city markets on the day.

Ashraful Islam, a private bank officer, bought two pieces of medium-sized (each weighing above 700kg) Hilsa at Tk 900 from Rayer Bazar on the day.

He told the FE that each of the same pieces was selling at Tk 750-Tk 800 on Thursday. "I'm surprised that prices fall to such a low," he said.

Md Kamrul Hasan, a vendor at the market, told the FE that every trader has a plenty of fish as sales declined from Thursday night.

"I've 20 medium and 12 big-sized Hilsa in my basket to sell. I'm not getting customers even after charging wholesale price," he said.

Mortuza Khan Montu, president of Bangladesh Fish Traders Association (BFTA), said consumers bought Hilsa much earlier and preserved those in their refrigerators.

The market has been saturated with the fish compared to the demand which resulted in the fall of Hilsa prices on Friday, said Mr Montu, also a Jatrabari-based trader in the city.

He said price of medium-sized Hilsa fell to Tk 1,000-Tk 1,100 a hali (four pieces) at Jatrabari wholesale on Friday morning which was minimum Tk 1,800 a day back.

"But the price might show a further hike on Baishakh morning," he said.

However, prices of the fish remained stable compared to that of Thursday in few markets including Hatirpool Bazar, Palashi Bazar, Banani Kitchen Market, sources said.

According to BFTA, the demand for Hilsa increased twentyfold ahead of the Baishakh celebrations in the country.

Over 80,000 tonnes of the silver fish is traded in the month of April out of 0.45 million tonnes of production, according to the Bangladesh Fish Development Corporation.

Though prices of Hilsa declined, beef prices continued to rise on Friday as people counted Tk 530-Tk 560 for per kg meat---a Tk 10-Tk 20 hike in a day and Tk 80-Tk 100 in a week.

Even buffalo meat was sold at Tk 480-Tk 500 a kg--- up by Tk 40 in a day.

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