Onion continues to skyrocket hitting Tk 200 per kg

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Mehedi Hasan
Published : 04:00, Nov 15, 2019 | Updated : 04:00, Nov 15, 2019

A man works at an onion wholesale market in the Kawran Bazar in Dhakaa, Bangladesh, July 24, 2019. REUTER/File Photo
Price of onion has hit a record high with each kg selling for Tk 200 to Tk 220 at kitchen markets across Dhaka city.
The price hike was noticed, when this correspondent visited some major retail and wholesale kitchen markets in the capital, including Shantinagar, Malibagh, Karwan Bazar and Shukrabad, on Thursday (Nov 14).
Retailers, however, blamed the hike on wholesalers.
In capital's Shantinagar, a kg of local onion rose from Tk 40 to Tk 50 within a day’s difference and was being sold at Tk 210 to Tk 220 per kg.
On the other hand, imported onion was being sold at Tk 170 to Tk 190 per kg.
AbdurAlim, a retired government officer, who went to Shantinagar to buy 5kg onions was astonished to see the price.
“I had to buy only 1kg onion," he said.
Jihad Hossain, an onion retailer at Shukrabad Kitchen Market, acknowledged the price hike and blamed the wholesaler for it
However, he could not pinpoint the actual reason behind it.
Onion price increased from mid-September
The price of onion was about Tk 50 in mid-September, and jumped to Tk 75 to 80 a kg by the last week of the month.
As India slapped a ban, on Sept 19 the price of local onion on the following day jumped to Tk 110 to Tk 120, while Indian onion price stood at Tk 100 to Tk 110.
The price came down to Tk 70-90 per kg in the second week of October as traders started importing the item from Myanmar and Egypt, but it started rising again from the third week of October.
On Sept 30, Commerce Secretary Md Jafar Uddin said, the Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB) to set onions at Tk 45 per kg in 35 places.

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