Onion prices skyrocket in Ctg markets
Image collected
Onion prices marked a sharp rise in your kitchen markets of the port city within the last two days carrying out a sudden hike in the wholesale market at Khatunganj where traders are citing the excuse of it being a ripple effect from neighbouring India.
Consumers had been happy over the last month or two with the reduced prices of onion thanks to an apparent stability in the market.
Now that has considered worries, with apprehensions of a repeat of last year's ordeals when prices skyrocketed.
Meanwhile, sales at different shops in the wholesale markets of Khatunganj witnessed a exceptional drop yesterday afternoon, with poor demand stemming from the upward trend of wholesale prices in the past three days.
Imported onion from India is the key choice for consumption in Chattogram while demand for the locally produced types remained poor.
Retail prices of both types rose by Tk 10 to Tk 15 per kilogramme in various kitchen markets within the a day of Friday.
Mohi Uddin, a service holder, bought a kilogramme of the Indian variety at Tk 35 from Karnaphuli CDA Market on Thursday.
"On the next day when I visited the same grocery shop for monthly shopping, the retailer demanded Tk 45 a kg for the same onion," said the frustrated shopper.
Mohammad Suman, the retailer, said these were forced to charge higher as the prices have been hiked at the wholesale market.
At Khatunganj's wholesale markets, prices of Indian onion suddenly rose by Tk 7 to 8 to attain Tk 37-38 per kg on Thursday from that which was just your day before.
Faruk Ahmed, a commission agent, said the market was witnessing this upward trend during the past three days as prices hovered between Tk 40-41 a kg on Friday and then Tk 42-43 yesterday.
The wholesalers blamed a recently available price hike in India.
Claiming that onion prices in India recently rose by Rs 13 to attain Rs 27 a kg, Ahmed said.
Wholesale price of locally grown onion also went up by Tk 10-12 a kg through the period.
Confirming this, Muhammad Idris, general secretary of Hamidullah Mia Market Traders Association of Khatunganj, said traders at different land ports hiked the prices on Thursday prompting wholesalers to accomplish the same.
After spiralling for three days at different wholesale shops and commission agent firms, the costs made a exceptional dive yesterday.
Ahmed, the commission agent, said his shop usually sells 100 to 150 sacks of onion every day but yesterday these were able to sell only 40.
Idris said the buyers were a little confused with the purchase price fluctuations and were preferring to sit back and wait, let's assume that the purchase price would soon fall because of this of poor sales.
Informing that new produce of the season in India would start arriving at the marketplace in 10 to 15 days, he expected the prices would come down soon.
Source: https://www.thedailystar.net