Trackback URL
Download PDF Prices of vegetable oil, rice, potato, onion and eggs shot up just after the Eid due to alleged short supply in the kitchen markets of the capital.
Wholesalers in Karwan Bazar in the city said due to Eid and Durga Puja, religious festivals of Muslims and Hindus, coinciding there was not timely supply of these commodities causing a short-term price increase.
Price of soybean oil rose by at least Tk 5 per litre at different retail and wholesale markets in the city. Soybean was selling between Tk 85 and 86 in retail markets while it was Tk 80 during Ramadan. Palm oil was being sold at Tk 80 per litre yesterday, which was Tk 75 before the Eid.
A five-litre jerry can of soybean oil was selling at Tk 409 at Karwan Bazar yesterday; it was Tk 384 during Ramadan. Traders said the price of soybean oil has been on the rise for the last three days.
In a number of retail markets in the city yesterday, onions (local variety) were selling at Tk 65 while the Indian variety was selling at Tk 55 a kg. But before Eid, local variety was selling at Tk 55 and Indian variety was selling at Tk 48 a kg.
Price of rice also increased by Tk 1 to 2 per kilogramme.
Potato was selling between Tk 23 and 25 a kilogramme in retail markets of the capital. However, before the Eid potatoes were selling at Tk 22 a kg.
Wholesalers in the city said the price hike in the wholesale markets is yet to impact the retail markets completely. They said retailers who bought rice ahead of Eid and have not run out of stock are selling rice at comparatively lower prices. Since the shortfall in supply came after Eid, retailers who bought rice after Eid are selling it at higher prices.
Different categories of rice including IRRI and Indian variety Swarna are being sold between Tk 24 and 25, which were selling at Tk 22-23 a kg before the Eid.
Varieties of finer rice like Najirshail and Minikat also rose by Tk 2 per kilogramme. Najirshail (regular quality) is selling at Tk 32 while it was only Tk 30 before the Eid.
A retailer in Karwan Bazar said with the price hike of rice after Eid, sale of not-so-fine quality of rice rose considerably.
Ayub Ali, a retailer of Karwan Bazar, said the price hike of rice would affect the city dwellers less. The city dwellers spend less than 15 percent of their monthly expenditure on rice, he argued. But poor villagers spend most of their income buying food-grains, mostly rice, and that is why they would suffer more, he added.
From Shanir Akhra in the city Nurunnahar, 35, a beggar having four mouths to feed, came to Karwan Bazar yesterday afternoon to buy rice. When retailers told her that rice is now selling at Tk 24 a kg she asked for Najirshail, which is Tk 32 a kg.
When The Daily Star correspondents asked her why she is buying the higher quality rice, she said her family can have the starch of boiled rice and it requires less curry to eat. She said as the price of low quality rice has risen it was not cost effective for her anymore.
Businessmen of Badamtoli, the largest wholesale rice market in Dhaka, claimed the prices of all varieties of rice soared at almost all parts of the country.
In Badamtoli, IRRI was being sold at Tk 20.90 yesterday while it was only 20.16 before Eid. Paijam, another variety of rice, was selling at Tk 23.84, which was being sold at 23.31 before Eid.
Najirshail was being sold at Tk 30, which was only Tk 26.79 before Eid. Different qualities of Minikat was selling between Tk 28.93 and 30.31 yesterday, which were between Tk 28 and 29.37 before Eid.
Since the import of Indian rice declined recently, a gap was created between the supply and demand, the reason for price of rice to soar, traders argued.
In Karwan Bazar wholesale market, Indian onions were selling between Tk 50 and 52 while the local variety was selling between Tk 54 and 55 a kg yesterday evening.
Onion importers in the city’s Shyambazar said due to Eid and Durga Puja holidays, onion import from India plummeted.
In Karwan Bazar wholesale market, potatoes were being sold at Tk 22 a kg, the price was Tk 19 before Eid.
Traders in Karwan Bazar said potatoes are stored at cold storages across the country. But due to shortage of labour during Eid and Durga Puja, its supply suffered.
Besides, price of eggs also soared after Eid. In different retail markets price of per hali (four eggs) eggs shot up by at least Tk 2 yesterday.
Price of 100 eggs was Tk 370 yesterday. It was only Tk 330 during Ramadan.
Wholesalers in Tejgaon said since demand for eggs was comparatively low during Ramadan, its price was also low. But after Eid demand for eggs increased and its price rose.
October 20th, 2007 at 2:48 am
[...] Check it out! While looking through the blogosphere we stumbled on an interesting post today.Here’s a quick excerptPrices of vegetable oil, rice, potato, onion and eggs shot up just after the Eid due to alleged short supply in the kitchen markets of the capital. Wholesalers in Karwan Bazar in the city said due to Eid and Durga Puja, … [...]