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Prices of essentials spiral further up

No headway in rice import from India yet; govt starts probing 7 oil refineries

Star Report
Prices of coarse rice continued to rise for the third consecutive day yesterday on retail and wholesale markets in the capital due to India's latest restriction on exporting the commodity at prices lower than $650 a metric ton.
Meanwhile, prices of pulses, flour, sugar and onion also went up on the city markets yesterday.
Edible oil price, after a sharp increase in the recent days, however, remained stable on retail markets while witnessing a slight drop on wholesale markets.
leaders said hundreds of riceladen trucks, which had been stranded at Petrapole and Shojadanga land ports of India, could not enter Bangladesh till yesterday evening, reported our Benapole and Satkhira correspondents.
Meanwhile, a meeting between Indian rice exporters and customs officials of that country held in Kolkata yesterday also bore no result, reported our Benapole correspondent quoting Indian exporters.
The exporters in the meeting sought approval from the customs authorities of India for exporting at least a few thousand metric tons of rice, for which letters of credit (L/Cs) had been opened by Bangladeshi importers at the rate of $505 a ton more than a month ago. but the appeal went unheeded.
Amit Dhar. an Indian exporter, said they might go to the court if there was no positive outcome from themeeting.
The customs commissioner of Kolkata sought instructions from the central commerce ministry in Delhi, while Indian Customs Super
Pandey told the exporters that the government there will not allow export of rice to Bangladesh for prices lower than $650 a ton.
He also said the rice stranded at the border for which L/Cs had been opened at the rate of $505 a ton will only be allowed to move into Bangladesh if the L/Cs are amended to the new rate of $650 a ton.
Sources in the Bangladesh Ministry of Food and Disaster Management yesterday said the government will try to negotiate with its Indian counterpart to overcome the obstacles in importing rice from that country. .
A senior official of the ministry said India's reluctance to export coarse varieties of rice spurs from their desire to ensure their own rice securi ty first.
"But the government will try to
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remove the problems through negotiations, to stabilise the prices," said theofficial.
The commerce ministry yesterday collected from traders in local markets information about the current price situation of some essential commodities including rice, edible oil, pulses, onion, and sugar, to discuss the matter at the government s highest level, said ministry sources.
A meeting on current market prices of essential commodities is scheduled to be held in the Office of the Chief Adviser today, the sources added.
Talking to The Daily Star. Commerce Secretary Feroz Ahmed said the government has been analysing the price situation to bring back normalcy in local markets.
'The Department of Food under the Ministry’ of Food and Disaster Management has been dealing with the matter of rice import from India," Feroz Ahmed said.
Nasiruddin. an importer at Benapole. said it is not possible for them to import nee for the new high price.
Due to the crisis in rice import at the land ports, hundreds of loaders there have been remaining unemployed for days.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Commerce started investigating sewn large edible oil refinery owners and importers as the essential commodity is not being sold at the government fixed prices.
The commerce ministry issued a letter on Sunday asking Bangladesh Edible Oil. City group. TK group. Meghna group. United Edible Oils, S Alam group and Mostafa Vegetable Oil to provide all information regarding clearance of their imports at the port, oil production, and sales between the period of February 25 and March 9. sources said.
The sewn large companies control 90 percent of the edible oil market. The ministry also issued a letter to the National Board of Revenue directing it to provide information about how much value added tax (VAT) the companies paid during the period.
The government will take stem actions if anyone is found responsible for destabilising the market, the sources added.
Visiting major city markets Babu Bazar. Badamtoli, Mohammadpur Krishi Market, and Karwan Bazar yesterday The Daily Star correspondent found each maund of coarse rice of Indian swarna, Guri, and IRRI being sold for Tk 1,100 to Tk 1.120, up by Tk 20 toTk 30 overnight.
On retail markets a kilogram (kg) of coarse rice was being sold forTk 31 toTk 33, up by a taka from the prices of the previous day.
Wholesale traders said due to India's restriction on rice export fol the last three day’s, a temporary rice sh ortage was created on die markets, while some wholesalers, taking advantage of the situation, added fuel to the fire by hoarding the commodity. intensifying the crisis artificially. which also spurred a price hike of the local varieties.
"Rice prices will continue to rise
by die day if the Indian restriction continues," said a rice wholesaler at Babu Bazar.
The best quality pulse was being sold lor Tk 95 to Tk 100 a kg on retail markets in the capital yesterday, up by Tk 5 over the last two days, while lower grade pulses were selling forTk 75 toTk 80 a kg.
Baders at Moulvi Bazar said a kg of Australian Kangaroo brand pulse had been selling forTk 78 just a couple of weeks ago on wholesale markets, which went up to Tk 95 yesterday. They blamed the price hike on the international market.
A 2kg pack of flour was selling for Tk 90 to Ik 94. up by Tk 2 a kg from the day before, while a kg of sugar was selling for Tk 40 toTk 42, up by Tk 6 to Tk 7 from the price of a week ago. The price of onion also went up by Ik 5 to Ik 10 in a week. A kg of onion was beii ig sold yesterday forTk 17 toTk 25.
Soybean oil was selling forTk 120 to Tk 125 a kg on retail markets, while on wholesale markets the price came down toTk 114 toTk 115. decreasing by Tk 1 to Ik 2 a kg from the previous day's price.