Wholesale onion prices fixed at Tk 55-90 a kg in Dhaka’s Shyambazar

Wholesale onion prices will range between Tk 55 and Tk 90 per kilogram, according to a decision made by Shyambazar traders in Dhaka to rein in the market after over a month of turmoil.

The traders’ association held an emergency meeting on Thursday night and decided to sell the cooking ingredient at prices within the fixed ranges from Friday.

The wholesale prices of onion imported from Egypt, China and Turkey is fixed between Tk 55 and Tk 60 a kg, of the Myanmar variety from Tk 80 to Tk 85, and local variety at Tk 90, according to the meeting decisions.

The association’s Vice-President Haji Abdul Majed told bdnews24.com the wholesalers had been “defamed” and fined “even though it was quite natural for the market to destabilize due to a lack of supply”.

“So we have been forced to fix the prices through discussions. It would have been better had we done it a month ago,” he added.

The traders’ leader called for government steps to ensure similar moves at other wholesale markets in Dhaka, Chattogram and the rest of the country.

The Directorate of National Consumer Rights Protection conducted a mobile court drive on the Shyambazar market to check whether the businesses were following their own decision.

Four of the traders were fined for violating the decision while the others were selling onion at the fixed prices, the directorate’s Assistant Director Abdul Jabbar Mandal said.