Powdered milk prices up for 4th time in yr

Prices of powdered milk increased further this week, marking fourth time hike just in one year and intensifying woes of the commoners further.
Most of the companies raised their powdered milk prices by Tk 30-50 a kg in last seven days, and its maximum retail price (MRP) reached Tk 820-900 a kg, according to the trading sources.
MRP of Dano branded powdered milk, a product of multinational Arla Foods, shot up to Tk 900 from Tk 850 a kg, Diploma (New Zealand Dairy) to Tk 850 from Tk 820 a kg, Fresh (Meghna) to Tk 840 from Tk 810 a kg, and Marks (Abul Khair) to 820 from Tk 790 a kg in last seven days, said city groceries.
MRP of powdered milk was Tk 620-680 a kg in December 2021, which increased to Tk 690-740 a kg in March 2022, again to Tk 720-810 a kg in June 2022, and further to Tk 790-850 a kg in September 2022, the Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB) data showed.
The TCB recorded a 5.0-9.0 per cent hike in powdered milk prices in a week, while the current prices are nearly 30-63 per cent higher than those of a year back.
The powdered milk prices have increased in the country at a time when its global prices have been showing a downtrend for the last eight months, according to the global commodity web portals.
The average price of powdered milk declined to US$ 3,279 a tonne in October-November 2022, which was $3,717 a tonne in Sept, and $4,757 a tonne in March, according to the Global Dairy Trade, an international commodity portal.
Bangladesh imports 1,20,000-1,30,000 tonnes of powdered milk annually to meet its local demand, according to the Ministry of Commerce.
Meanwhile, liquid milk prices remained static at their previous high of Tk 80-90 a litre.
On the other hand, wheat flour prices continued to rise, as finer flour or maida packet price hit Tk 85 a kg, loose maida Tk 75-78 a kg, coarse flour or atta packet price Tk 75 a kg, and loose atta Tk 65-70 a kg - showing 5.0-7.0 per cent a kg hike in a week, 10-14 per cent in a month, and 50-71 per cent in a year, as per the TCB data.
Lentil prices further increased by Tk 10-15 a kg, as its medium variety was sold at Tk 130-135 a kg and finer variety at Tk 140-145 a kg.

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