Onion: India drops minimum export price

India has dropped the minimum export price on onions in an effort to restrict the crash in wholesale onion prices, The Times of India reports.

Staff Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 4 Feb 2018, 11:56 AM
Updated : 4 Feb 2018, 11:56 AM

The announcement was made by the Indian Ministry of Commerce on Friday.

“During the recent meeting with the officials from the ministry of commerce, it had already been decided to remove the MEP on onions if the average wholesale onion prices dropped below Rs 2,000 per quintal,” the ToI reported.

“Now, the average wholesale onion prices have already dropped to Rs 1,500 per quintal. Hence, it had been immediately decided to remove the MEP of onions."

Rising supply had caused the wholesale price of onions to decrease by Rs 15-18 to Rs 20-25 per kg.

India had raised the MEP from $430 to $850 per tonne last November.

The price of onions was Rs 50-60 per kg on the Indian market at the time.

The MEP was revised down to $700 per tonne on Jan 19 after prices began to fall.

Estimating a Rs 30 per kg internal price of Indian onions, Bangladeshi traders can import onions at $470 per tonne.

The announcement has yet to affect the Bangladeshi market, where Indian onions were selling for Tk 50-60 per kg.

(Additional reporting by the Dinajpur Correspondent)