Onion prices in Bangladesh have doubled in just ten days, forcing consumers to pay an additional Tk3.5 crore every day, a surge analysts say was both foreseeable and avoidable.
The retail price of onions has jumped from Tk60–70 per kg to Tk110–120, driven by delayed import approvals and alleged market manipulation.
The Consumers Association of Bangladesh (CAB) estimates that with daily demand around 7,000 tons, households are now spending Tk3.5 crore more per day than at the start of the month.
AHM Safiquzzaman, CAB president and former head of the Directorate of National Consumers’ Rights Protection, blamed official indecision.
“The government’s hesitation on onion imports is costing consumers crores daily,” he said, urging authorities to act before the situation worsens.
Commerce Adviser Sk Bashir Uddin said imports may be approved if prices remain high through the week but warned that such a move could hurt local farmers.
Safiquzzaman countered that approval should have come months earlier: “Limited imports in September or October could have prevented this shortage. Now traders are exploiting the vacuum.”
Syndicates, market control
A Bangladesh Trade and Tariff Commission (BTTC) review found retail prices had risen 37–42% in just one week.
The commission attributed the surge to market mismanagement and “syndicate activity,” recommending immediate import approvals.
“Such abnormal price hikes indicate manipulation,” its report said.
Agricultural economist Abdul Bayes, former Jahangirnagar University vice-chancellor, said weak oversight has allowed collusion to thrive.
“Without breaking syndicates and corporate oligarchies in agriculture, these crises will keep returning,” he warned.
India remains Bangladesh’s main onion source, where prices hover around Tk16 per kg.
Even after import duties, BTTC says local prices could drop by Tk50 per kg if shipments resume.
A recurring crisis
The Agriculture Ministry insists relief is coming, with 75,000 tons of local onions expected to hit markets within a week and early “murikata” crops due in December.
“We’ve informed the Commerce Ministry that fresh supplies are imminent,” said Additional Secretary Mahmudur Rahman.
Yet traders and farmers remain skeptical.
Farmers in Pabna, Faridpur, and Rajbari say production costs have soared to Tk1,500 per maund, leaving them vulnerable if cheaper Indian onions flood in.
“If the price drops below Tk2,000 per maund, we face another year of loss,” said Rokonuzzaman, a farmer from Rajbari’s Goalanda.
Historical Trading Corporation data shows onion prices typically spike by more than 100% in November compared to March.
Market insiders say this pattern, predictable but unaddressed, benefits middlemen while squeezing both farmers and consumers.