Supply glut pulls down rice prices in city mkts

Prices of most rice varieties declined both in the retail and wholesale markets in the city in last two weeks thanks to an increase in supply from the production hubs, according to traders.
Prices of finer varieties like miniket, najirshail and medium varieties like brridhan-28, brridhan-29 (haski), paijam and kajol lata declined by Tk 4-2 per kg both at the wholesale and retail levels in the city.
Briidhan-28 and briidhan-29 were selling at Tk 38-42 per kg, miniket Tk 46-Tk 50, najirshail Tk48-54, BR-11 Tk 34-35, swarna  Tk 32-33 per kg at different kitchen markets in the city, down by Tk 1-2 in the last one week.
Md Jilani, a rice retailer at Miron Zolla Kitchen Market in Bongshal area told the FE that prices of rice declined in the Babubazar and Badamtoli wholesale market and that helped them cut the prices.
But prices of rice of different varieties like Pran, Utsab, Rashid etc were static.
The miniket variety was selling at Tk42-Tk46, briidhan-28 and briidhan-29 varieties at Tk 36-38 per kg, najirshail Tk 46-50, BR-11 Tk30-31, swarna Tk 28-29 per kg at Babubazar, Badamtoli, Jatrabari, Kochukhet and Mohammadpur wholesale markets-down by Tk 3-4 in the last two weeks.   
Md Asadullah, joint secretary of Badamtoli and Babubazar Chaul Aratdar Malik Samity, an organisation of rice wholesalers, said supply from rice hubs in Rangpur, Dinajpur, Naogaon, Joypurhat, Rajshahi and Chapainawabganj increased notably over the last three weeks.
He said a big chunk of rice was entering the market from the rice hubs despite the blockade. It helped reduce the prices.
But, the transportation cost was still higher-60 per cent more than that on a normal day, he said.
Bangladesh Auto Major Husking Mills Owners Association secretary KM Layek Ali told the FE that the prices of most varieties of rice at the mill gates declined by Tk 5-6 per kg.
He said the millers were in dire-straits due to the ongoing blockade amid hartals apart from uncontrolled imports.
He said half the mills remained closed yet as cheaper Indian rice flooded the market.
"The country needed no imports as the local stock was very good," he said.
The country produced 34.35 million tonnes of rice in the last financial year against a demand for 31.0 million tonnes, according to the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) and the Directorate General of Food (DGoF).  
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