The price of onions has started to fall by Tk 5 to Tk 10 per kg at the wholesale markets though the impact is yet to reach the retail bazaar.
On Sunday (Nov 3), onions sold for Tk 130 to Tk 145 at the retail markets of the city. Buyers complain that official efforts to bring down the price of onions didn’t have any impact.
At the unrest began in the market, the Commerce Ministry took the initiative to import onions from Turkey, Egypt, and Myanmar without much of a result.
Sources say that in November, India will lift the ban on onion imports since the production this year was encouraging. If there isn’t any unexpected rain, the production in Bangladesh will also be high.
Meanwhile, in the face of demands by farmers in Karnataka in India, the government has given permission for exports on a limited scale and the ban has been lifted from Oct 28 to Nov 30.
Commerce Secretary Dr Zafar Uddin added: “Due to this, the price may fall; there has been a bumper production of onions in Karnataka, especially in Bengaluru, but their onions are rotting and so, the farmers are creating pressure on the Indian government for exports.”
The permission was given to export only Bengaluru pink onions, he added.
For exports, permission has to be taken from the Indian Horticulture Commission and each shipment can send up to 9,000 tonnes.
“This partial lifting of the restriction will have a positive impact on the market in Bangladesh; local onions will also hit the market by mid-November and the crisis will ease.”
Efforts made by the Commerce Ministry to import onions from Turkey, Egypt and Myanmar found little response from importers. Some traders in Chattogram imported onions from Myanmar but that did not bring down the price in any way.
Initially, importers were not interested to bring onions from Turkey or Egypt because of high transport costs. The government then asked Meghna, City and S Alam Group to import onions from these countries and the shipment is still on the way.