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Anarchy was repeated in the onion market. The same happened last year with the news that India had stopped exporting. Kg of onion has crossed the century in an interval of 24 hours. On Monday, India announced a sudden halt in onion exports. After that, the price has risen in stages and until yesterday, the domestic onion has exceeded Rs 100 in the retail market. Retailers also increase the price of imported Indian onions to Rs 60 per kg.
Concerned sectors of the government have begun to work to curb the anarchy in the onion market. The Ministry of Commerce has already taken seven initiatives, including monitoring identified rogue traders. It is known that the ministry was already prepared for fears that the recent floods in India could destabilize the country’s onion market. In light of that preparation, the ministry has begun working on these initiatives.
The trade minister will address the media on Wednesday to ensure adequate stocks of onions in the country and prevent unscrupulous traders from competing to increase prices.
In this regard, Trade Minister Tipu Munish told Kaler Kantha: “We have verified the data to monitor the market and keep it stable. Initiatives have been taken to import onions from Turkey and Myanmar. Imports will continue to increase through the Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB). Even after that, the government has a plan to crack down on opportunistic traders. It said it will discuss this with media workers today.
Returning to the market, it can be seen that this price increase emotion is present in all wholesale and retail markets. The only reason behind this is that India has stopped exporting onions. Concerned people say that on the news that India has stopped exporting, buyers have also started buying onions out of fear. As a result, the sellers did not miss this opportunity. But there was no shortage of onions on the market. According to the Tariff Commission, there are more than five lakh tonnes of onion in stock. In addition, the process of importing onions from four more countries has started.
It should be noted that 80 percent of the demand for onion in the country comes from India. On September 13 last year, India set a minimum price of £ 650 per ton of onion. Then, on September 30, the export stopped. After that, the price of onion in the country market increased to three hundred rupees. This time, the Ministry of Commerce has started monitoring the price of goods for a month and a half. First, TCB started selling onions at 30 Tk per kg on the open market last Sunday.
Seven initiatives of the Ministry of Commerce: Continue the sale of onions through TCB until March, control the illegal market, punish unscrupulous traders, speed up the unloading of imported onions at ports, exempt onion imports from 5 percent , keep the market normal in the onion producing areas. Take the initiative through the Deputy Commissioner. In addition, the Bank of Bangladesh was instructed to take steps to import onions as soon as possible after opening the loan. The National Department of Consumer Protection has also been ordered to intensify the campaign in the market.
According to the Department of Agriculture, the demand for onions in the country is 2.5 million metric tons per year. On the contrary, more than 2.5 million tons have been produced. Onions are a perishable product, about 25 percent perishable. As such, the actual onion production is over 1.9 million tons.
According to the Bangladesh Tariff and Trade Commission (BTTC), 4.59 million metric tons of onions were imported in the last financial year (2019-20). Previously, in fiscal year 2018-19, onion imports were 10.91 million tons. One lakh 74 thousand tons were imported in July and August.
Market situation: I went to the Karwan Bazar wholesale market yesterday afternoon and saw that the onion market is quite high. Buyers and sellers are extremely restless. Looking at the situation, it seemed that all the onions on the market were already gone. So the price changed over and over again. If a newcomer comes in and wants to know the price from the sellers, he wants Rs 5-10 more per kg. Upon entering the market at 12 noon, local onions were found at Rs 400 (Rs 60 per kg). In an hour and a half, sellers started selling at Rs 450 (Rs 90 per kg) by increasing it by Rs 50. When he left at 2.30am, he asked a seller for a price of Rs 500 (Rs 100 per kg) . The same goes for the price of imported onions. Until the afternoon, the price of imported onion in the caravan market rose to Rs 300 per kg or Rs 60 per kg. But there was no shortage of onions on the market.
If you want to know that the wholesaler Jasim, Alauddin and almost all the sellers in the market are on the same page, India has stopped exporting onions. There are no goods on the market.
According to TCB, the national onion price has increased 140 percent in the last month. The price of imported onion has increased 161 percent.
Amid so much unrest in the onion market, yesterday a buyer named Alam was seen returning home from Dhali Bazar in the capital with a total of 15 kg of onions in two bags. Alam said: ‘Last year also the government said that stocks were sufficient. But even after that, the price went up to Rs 250. So I won’t be wrong this time.
However, Faisal, an official from a private organization, disagreed. I spoke to him at that market yesterday. He said: ‘Traders seize the opportunity because people buy with enthusiasm. If we don’t get excited like that, they’ll get an answer. So this time I will not buy onions.
Situation outside Dhaka: The onion market is also booming in different districts and upazilas of the country outside the capital, Dhaka. Domestic onions are sold at Rs 90-100 per kg. In different markets, including Chanchkair Hat in Natore’s Gurudaspur, the onion of Rs 50 per kg has been converted to Rs 100 in one day. People are buying more and more onions in a panic. A mobile court in Benapole, Laxmipur, Gaibandha and Bhaluka of Mymensingh in Jessore has fined 13 traders.
Our representatives from Nilphamari, Laxmipur, Gaibandha, Benapole (Jessore), Bhaluka (Mymensingh) and Gurudaspur (Natore) have provided this information.
Mamun Kabir Tarafdar, Deputy Director of Benapole Land Port (Traffic), said no onions were imported from India for two days.
A mobile court in Benapole has fined three shopkeepers Taka 30,000 for overloading onions. Nilphamari district marketing officer Ershad Alam Khan told reporters that they are monitoring the market regularly. The operation was carried out with the participation of the executive magistrate and the RAB in Barabazar yesterday afternoon. In Laxmipur, two warehouses have been fined Taka 6,000 for selling onions at high prices and not having a price list. A fine of 28,000 taka has been imposed on six merchants of the upazilas of Gaibandha Sadar and Sadulapur. Two merchants from Seedstore Bazar in Bhaluka Upazila have been fined Tk 10,000 for not displaying the price list in the shop.
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