Supply crunch makes onion prices eye-watering again, say traders

After a brief respite, onion prices have once again begun soaring in the markets due to a supply shortage for the key kitchen staple, traders say.

The spike in the prices during the ongoing season has burned a hole in the pockets of the consumers.

Onion prices have gone up by Tk 30 per kg in a week, according to retailers and consumers.

At several markets in Dhaka, local old varieties were being sold at Tk 130-140 per kg, the imported varieties at Tk 100 a kg and home-grown new produces at Tk 100-120 per kg on Friday.

“Last week, onion prices had fallen. But prices have started to rise as the new onion supply in the market is lower than expected," Russell, a wholesaler at Karwan Bazar kitchen market who gave only one name, told bdnews24.com.

In the span of a week, the onion price shot up by Tk 80 -100 per five kg, according to him.

“Now it is the season of onion. Onions have started arriving in the market, but the prices have gone up,” said Nazmul Hasan, a consumer at Shantinagar Bazar.

“We need to find out what's really behind it,” he said and noted that the government is still weak in monitoring and enforcing the law.

The prices recently skyrocketed to cross Tk 250, a record in Bangladesh, when India banned onion export to control domestic markets.

Last week, the prices of onion dropped slightly as new produces began hitting the market, according to traders.

To deal with the situation, the government decided to import onions from Egypt, Turkey, China and other countries. It later moved to import onion through airways for faster shipments.