Branded aromatic rice price spikes further

Fragrant rice, green chilli, red meat, some spices and vegetables witnessed an astronomical rise in price, thus battering commoners ahead of Eid-ul-Azha.
The prices of local branded fragrant rice shot up further to Tk 180 a kilogram, marking a hike of Tk 10 a kg ahead of the festival.
Chashi, a rice brand of Square, has set its maximum retail price of 'chinigura' aromatic rice at Tk 180 a kg, according to both online and offline groceries.
Aarong brand of Brac, Pran, Fresh brand of Meghna Group, Teer brand of City Group and Pure brand of ACI were also selling chinigura at Tk 170-180 a kg.
On the other hand, loose aromatic rice was found selling at Tk 150-165 a kilogram, marking a Tk 10 further hike in price.
Meanwhile, the price of green chilli remained almost static on Tuesday at Tk 400-450 a kg, although import started on Monday, according to insiders.
Beef price shot up to Tk 800-830 a kg as many meat traders have reduced their sales amid a tectonic hike in animal prices ahead of Eid.
Mutton price also increased during the period for the same reason, said Rajon Islam, a meat trader at Rayerbazar in the capital.
Although broiler chicken prices fell on Tuesday, indigenous species witnessed an all-time hike as they retailed at Tk 750-800 a kg, according to kitchen market sources.
Garlic, ginger, cumin seed, cucumber, tomato and carrot also saw a notable hike in the last 10 days before Eid.
TM Rashed Khan, asst director of the Department of Agricultural Marketing, said fragrant rice prices have posted a fall in milling hubs in the past two weeks.
He said chinigura and kalijira in Dinajpur, Nilphamari and Naogaon are currently sold at Tk 120-128 a kg which was Tk 130-135 a kg two weeks back.
This plunge in prices in the milling hubs is not reflected in the city markets, said Mr Khan.
He further said that the current price gap between the farm level and the city retail level was also raising the green chilli price further in the consumers' end.
Bangladesh Consumers Association secretary Humayun Kabir Bhuiyan said prices of chilli, aromatic rice, ginger and sugar showed all-time highs in June mainly for lax monitoring by government agencies concerned.
The absence of exemplary punishment to wrongdoers is also encouraging unscrupulous traders to fix prices at their wish.
He suggested that import costs of green chilli be made public so traders could not make any unethical profit and commoners could buy it at an affordable rate.
Some companies have totally captured the aromatic rice market. The syndicate of the companies fixes prices.
Mr Bhuiyan reasserted the call for strict market monitoring to bring prices of essential commodities within the reach of the people on limited incomes.

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