Chicken gets pricier

Prices of broiler, Sonali and Pakistani chicken witnessed a hike in the capital’s kitchen markets on Friday compared to the Thursday’s prices. However, egg price has remained steady while prices of almost all essentials including vegetables, sugar and edible oils have remained steady with many of them maintaining the previous hike in the markets.

Some vegetables like red tomato, bitter gourd were still getting pricier in the markets.

Prices of major vegetables, namely brinjal, bean, pumpkin, pointed gourd, potato and green chili have remained static.

However, the price of local cucumber and round brinjal incresed by Tk 10 per kg and Tk 6.0 per kg respectively.

Prices of three important spices -- onion, ginger and garlic -– have remained steady with maintaining the previous hike.

Taking to The Financial Express, Consumers Association of Bangladesh (CAB) secretary HumayunKabirBhuiyan said the poor, fixed income group and jobless people are dealing a huge blow amid the increased prices of commodities.

The commerce ministry along with other concerned ministries and government agencies should monitor the markets properly and strictly to stabilise the prices of the essentials in the markets on both wholesale and retail levels, he added. 

The state-run Department of Agricultural Marketing (DAM) in its daily report on Friday stated that eggs were being sold at Tk 33-Tk 35 (four pieces), local sugar at Tk 77-Tk 78 per kg, salt (packed) at Tk 27-Tk 33 per kg, lentil at Tk 103-Tk 109 per kg, onion local at Tk 63-Tk 67 per kg and flour (packed) at Tk 40-Tk 42 at the markets.

Tomatoes (mature) are being sold at Tk 87-Tk 99 per kg, broiler chickens at Tk 143-Tk 149 a kg, soybean oil at Tk 143-Tk 145 per litre, garlic (local) at Tk 48-Tk 56 per kg, garlic (imported) at Tk 128-Tk 136 per kg, ginger (local) at Tk 71-Tk 80 per kg and ginger (imported) at Tk 86-Tk 97 per kg.

After visiting some city kitchen markets, the correspondent found that prices of other different essential spices have remained stable compared.

Commenting on the situation, Maksedul, a vegetable vendor at the city’s Adabor Bazar, told The Financial Express that prices of almost all vegetables have remained unchanged on Friday compared to Thursday’s prices.

Round brinjal (black and white) was selling at Tk 150 per five kg at the wholesale level this morning whereas it was Tk 120 per five kg on Thursday.

The prices of long brinjal was Tk 120 per five kg at the wholesale level this day which was the same on Thursday, he said.

As for the round and long brinjal at the retail level, he said he was selling them for Tk 40-Tk 50 per kg.

The vegetable vendor said he bought five kg of bitter gourd at Tk 250-Tk 270 today which was the same as yesterday.

He was selling it at Tk 60 per kg at the retail level.

Maksedul is selling pumpkins (winter) at Tk 35-45 each at the retail level this day.

When asked about the retail prices of beans, cabbage, cauliflower and local cucumber, another mobile vegetable vendor, namely Hriday, said he was selling beans at Tk 50-Tk 60 per kg.

The cabbage was being sold at Tk 25-Tk 35 each today.

The cauliflower was being sold at Tk 35-Tk 40 each this morning which is the same as Thursday.

Radish was being sold at Tk 120-Tk 140 five kg at the wholesale level today which was the same on Thursday, the veg vendor stated.

Some other vegetable vendors at Adabor, MohammadpurKrishi Market along with mobile vendors also echoed the same price level.

Akash at MohammadpurKrishi Market said the prices of three important spices -- onion, garlic and ginger –- have remained stable in the wholesale market.

The prices of different varieties of onion including local were between Tk 48 and Tk 58 per kg in the wholesale market, while ginger (imported) and local garlic were selling at Tk 95-100 and Tk 50-60 per kg respectively, according to him.

The price of Burmese variety of onion was being sold at Tk 55 per kg at retail level on Friday which was the same on Thursday, he added.

The prices of garlic at wholesale markets range between Tk 45 and Tk 100 per kg, he said.

Rasel, a salesman at New Bismillah Broiler at MohammadpurKrishi Market, told The FE that he was selling broiler chickens at Tk 148 a kg on Friday at wholesale level which was Tk 140 on Thursday.

Sonali and Pakistani chicken were being sold at Tk 240 per kg respectively whereas it was Tk 236 on Thursday, he said, adding that a dozen of red eggs was being sold at Tk 100 this morning which is the same as yesterday.

Jabayer Hossain, a proprietor at Bikrampur Trading Corporation at MohammadpurKrishi Market who is also a wholesaler, told The Financial Express that the prices of some major essentials like flour, edible oil, sugar and lentil were maintaining the previous hike.

He sees no sign of a decrease in prices of such important essentials right now.

The price of local variety of onion declined by Tk 2.0 per kg, the trader said, adding that local sugar was being sold at Tk 90 per kg at retail level.

Loose soybean oil declined by 1.0 per kg on Friday, he added.

Artificial supply crisis prompts rice price hike

At present, harvesting of Aman paddy is in the last stage in the country. The government and rice mill owners have already started buying the newly harvested paddy.

But rice prices have suddenly gone up due to a shortage of supply. Wholesale rice traders have alleged that prices are being hiked, thus creating an artificial supply crisis. 

Sources concerned said the retail price of rice has gone up by Tk2-Tk4 per kg in a week. The government's rice procurement at increased prices and the recent fuel price hike have affected the country's rice market.

A recent visit to Khatunganj, the country's largest wholesale market for consumer goods, revealed that supply of rice from different warehouses across the country has declined over the past week. The rice market was already showing a slightly upward trend in prices due to the increased transportation cost triggered by the recent fuel price hike. After the supply of the new season's rice started reaching the market, a syndicate of regional rice traders, who buy rice from the farmers and sell it to wholesalers, reduced the supply to the wholesale markets, creating an artificial supply crisis. As a result, the price of a sack (50 kg) of rice has increased by Tk100 to Tk250 in a week.

According to the Khatunganj wholesalers, the prices of almost all types of rice have gone up in the last two weeks. A sack of Swarna Siddha rice is now being sold at Tk2,100, increasing by Tk100. Increasing by Tk200, Miniket Siddha is being sold at Tk2,300-Tk2,500. As an impact of the wholesale price hike, rice prices have gone up in retail markets also by several taka per kg.

In this regard, Layek Ali, general secretary of Bangladesh Auto Rice and Husking Mill Owners Association, said, "The supply of new season's paddy and rice has not gained momentum yet. Rising prices of imported Indian rice have also affected the price of the locally produced rice."

Siddique Ahmed, a wholesaler from Khatunganj, said, "There is a sufficient supply of newly harvested and old rice to regional rice markets; but mill owners and regional wholesalers have created an artificial supply crisis to make additional profit, which ultimately resulted in increased rice prices during the last week."

Asked, ShantoDasgupta, a rice trader and former president of the Chattogram Rice Mill Association, said, "The government has increased the procurement price of rice. In the case of farmers, the price has increased by Tk1 per kg while the price of rice procured from mill owners has increased by Tk3 per kg. Moreover, the price of rice in the country has already gone up a little after the recent fuel price hike."

He thinks that the price of rice has started rising again during the harvest as farmers are not selling rice in the open market due to the increased prices of rice procured by the government from mill owners.

Artificial supply crisis prompts rice price hike