Traders who stored potatoes in the cold storages are behind the price volatility in the markets, Bangladesh Cold Storage Association (BCSA) claimed Sunday, saying that they thought stock of the commodity was lower than demand.
"Traders who raised prices think that the stock of potatoes is low," BCSA President Mostofa Azad Chowdhury Babu told a press conference at the association office in the city.
He spoke about the apparent way of manipulation amid the rocketing prices of potatoes in the local kitchen markets, and also spelled out the data mismatch related to production and stock position of potatoes.
He said the production was not more than 8.5 million tonnes in the fiscal year 2022-23, when the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) estimated it to be 11.2 million tonnes.
The prices of stored cardinal and diamante varieties have fueled up to Tk 50-60 a kg in the city, marking a 40 per cent hike in two months and 61 per cent in a year, according to the Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB).
Seed potato prices also jumped to Tk 70-90 a kg, surging 45-50 per cent in a year, raising concern among farmers, says the Department of Agricultural Marketing (DAM).
Amid the price volatility, the commerce ministry also directed the BCSA on September 5 last to submit data on potato storage situation for the last three years.
Mr Chowdhury explained that the demand for potatoes in the country is around 9.0 million tonnes, and taking into account the data of DAE, the country should have 2.2 million tonnes of surplus.
In a presentation, he said 20 per cent of the cold storage spaces remain empty and argued that the storage capacity would not remain unused had there been a surplus.
He said the price of potatoes was Tk 26-27 a kg at the starting of sales from the cold storage on May 20 last, but was later raised to Tk 34-36 a kg by the traders.
"It is not fair and they (traders) should be brought under scrutiny by the National Board of Revenue (NBR)," he added.
BCSA senior vice president Ishtiaque Ahmed and directors Md Kamrul Islam, Md Fazlur Rahman and Chandan Kumar Saha also spoke at the press event among others.
The association informed that its member cold storages combined stored 2.3 million tonnes of potatoes in 2023 which was 2.4 million tonnes in 2022.
Asked, the BCSA president said they have already sent all information sought by the commerce ministry and other agencies concerned.
He claimed that the stored potatoes could meet the demand until the beginning of December next when the early varieties of potatoes would start coming to the market.
Meanwhile, the DAM data showed that all registered cold storages had 2.49 million tonnes of potato at the season's beginning this year which was 2.70 million tonnes in 2022. However, the DAE claimed potato production in FY '23 was 11.2 million tonnes, the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) said it would be 10.4 million tonnes and BCSA claimed it to be 8.5 million tonnes.
Taking into account the three sources of data, there is a 1.9-2.7 million tonnes of mismatch between the private and government data on potato production.
At present, potatoes were selling at four-year-high prices. Earlier in August 2020, the prices crossed Tk 60 a kg. The DAM then fixed the cold storage, wholesale and retail rates to ensure a check and balance in the market.
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