Street vendors sell vegetables on a portion of a road in the city's Motijheel area. There has been a noticeable rise in the sale of veggies following a drop in prices. The photo was shot on Thursday afternoon. — FE Photo by Shafiqul Alam The prices of most vegetables, onions, and potato witnessed a notable decline last week, bringing some relief for consumers, while rice remained pricey at previous highs.
On the other hand, chicken, beef, and river fish prices increased, which traders attributed to the rising demand ahead of the thirty-first night and new year celebrations.
Broiler chicken prices shot up to Tk 210-220 a kg while that of Sonali and Pakistani varieties increased to Tk 340-360 a kg, marking a Tk 20 per kg hike in a week.
Rezaul Alam, a chicken vendor at Mohammadpur Agricultural Market in the capital, told The Financial Express prices at farms rose by Tk 10-15 a kg in the last one and a half weeks.
He said demand from restaurants and households had increased ahead of the thirty-first night and the new year 2025 celebrations.
Alam also said meat prices would remain a little bit high until March as it is the season of festivals, fairs, and weddings.
Beef was retailed at Tk 780-800 a kg, marking a Tk 20-30 per kg hike in a week.
Meanwhile, onion prices declined to Tk 50-80 a kg, depending on quality, from Tk 70-100 a kg seven days back.
Trader said the increased supply of seasonal seed onions, known as murikata, helped prices dip.
Onion import costs also declined by 20-30 per cent amid a drastic fall in prices in neighbouring India, said Tofael Mia, a Beribadh-Rayerbazar-based trader.
Potato prices also witnessed a reduction of Tk 10-20 a kg as newly harvested varieties were retailed at Tk 50-60 a kg.
All winter vegetables, including cauliflower, cabbage, country bean, radish, turnip, and brinjal, also saw 20-30 per cent price declines, thanks to rising supply, traders said.
Cauliflower was retailed at Tk 30-40 a piece, while country bean was sold at Tk 50-60 a kg.
Meanwhile, the edible oil market is still volatile as half of the groceries are yet to get soybean oil from companies with new price tags.
Though the government set bottled soybean oil prices at Tk 175 per litre, many groceries are selling products of fake companies at Tk 185-190 a litre.
Loose soybean oil is available at Tk 180-185 a litre against the government rate of Tk 157 a litre.
Rice prices remained static at previous highs, with the coarse variety retailing at Tk 55-56 a kg, the medium one at Tk 65-70 a kg, and the fine one at Tk 75-90 a kg.
Traders said the staple's prices witnessed a further hike of Tk 1.5-2.0 a kg at mill gates, which might be reflected in retail prices in the city next week.
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