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Onion prices soar on supply crunch

Sohel Parvez
Onion prices rose about 17 percent to Tk 140 a kilogram yesterday from a day earlier in retail shops due to a fall in supply amid the repeated shutdowns called by BNP and its allies.
Prices of imported onion rose to Tk 120 a kg, up from Friday's highest selling price of Tk 100.
But Trading Corporation of Bangladesh, a state-run agency, recorded the prices at Tk 105-130 a kg in different city markets yesterday, up from Tk 70-110 on Friday. Prices were Tk 50-85 a kg a week ago.
"Falling supply and soaring transport fares due to the blockades are the main reasons behind the onion price spirals," said Mohammad Yasin Sheikh, a wholesaler at Karwan Bazar kitchen market.
"There is adequate stock in the country, but recurrent blockades and violence have hurt the supply chain severely."
"It is terrible. I could buy onion and vegetables by spending the same amount a couple of months ago," said Mohammad Shaikat, who bought imported onion at Tk 120 a kg from Karwan Bazar yesterday.
In the face of the spiralling prices, many
retailers are avoiding purchasing the essential cooking ingredient, fearing that customers would be unwilling to buy onion at such exorbitant rates.
A customer, who came to the market to buy 30kg onion, left the market—angered by the price hike, said Zakir Hossain, a grocer at Karwan Bazar kitchen market.
"Customers react negatively hearing such a high rate and do not buy it. That's why we stopped selling onion."
Abdul Kadir, a vegetable retailer at Wari, was found selling imported onions.
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He said he did not buy local onions as the wholesalers in Shyambazar demand as high asTk 120 a kg.
Malika Parvin, a buyer at Kadir's store, said: "Sellers charge prices at will citing short supply as an excuse."
"An onion crisis is looming because of the continuing blockades," said Md Alamgir Hossain, an onion importer at Bhomra Land Port, a main station to handle imported onions from India.
No truck could enter Bangladesh during the blockade days last week, as all port activities were suspended.
Only 30-32 trucks entered Bangladesh through the port on Friday when the authority kept it open, Hossain said. No trucks came through the port on Saturday.
"Short supply and higher transport fares are fuelling the prices of onion."