Onion prices rise sharply in city

Prices of onion increased notably in the city's kitchen markets in the week that ended Friday, compared to its prices in the previous week.
Market insiders expressed their concern over syndication of importers and big traders for the latest rising trend in onion prices.
Onion was sold at Tk 40-45 per kg (local) and Tk 36-40 per kg (Indian) in the city's kitchen markets, increasing Tk 5-6 per kg than their prices seven days back, according to retailers.
A retailer at Hazaribag said per palla (5-kg) local onion was being sold at Tk 185-190 at Shyambazar wholesale market for the last three days, which was Tk 160-165 per palla earlier.
Indian onion was sold at Tk 170-175 per palla against Tk 140-145 per palla a week back.
Consumers Association of Bangladesh (CAB) secretary Humayun Kabir Bhuiyan said the price of Indian onion is stubbornly high.
He said it costs maximum Tk 26-27 for importing a kg of onion including duty and transportation cost, as India reduced onion export price to US$300 (minimum) per tonne in August from $500 earlier.
An official at the Department of Agricultural Marketing (DAM) said the country has produced nearly 1.6 million tonnes of onion this year. There is no reason for poor supply of onion in the market as its import price is also low.
Meanwhile, potato harvested early in the season started arriving at the city markets with a high price of Tk 100-120 per kg, as a few vendors were selling the item, traders said.
"I've bought only 2 palla from Rayerbazar at Tk 800. Consumers are buying maximum a quarter or half kg of such potato," a retailer at Banalata kitchen market said.
However, prices of some vegetables reduced slightly this week compared to their prices in the previous week.
Prices of cauliflower, cabbage, tomato, local bean, long bean and vegetable leaf etc were found lower by Tk 2-5 per kg or per piece or per bunch on Friday.   
Other commodity prices also showed a static trend on the day, compared to their previous prices.
But price of Nepalese lentil increased by Tk 4-5 per kg in a week, and sold at Tk 102-106 per kg.
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