Rice prices were raised again in the capital's retail and wholesale markets after showing a Tk2-3 a kilogram decline in the last week of August.
Finer and medium variants of rice witnessed Tk3-10 per kg hike in the last few days which market experts have attributed to a scarcity in supply of Boro crops as well as low imports.
The finer varieties in loose form, marketed by traditional millers and traders, were retailing at Tk75-90 a kg, medium Tk58-62 a kg on Wednesday.
Coarse rice also showed Tk3-4 a kg hike to Tk52-55 a kg.
The Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB) also recorded a maximum 14% price hike in the prices of finer rice in a week.
TCB data also showed that the current prices of traditionally marketed rice are a maximum 17% higher now than that of a year ago.
However, prices of branded packet rice of the leading agro processors and essential commodity trading companies remained static at their previous record high of Tk82-98 a kg.
A supply shortage in local crops since the Boro season as a result of hoarding by the traders, a fall in Aus production and less imports are key reasons behind the rice price hike, said market experts.
According to the Food Ministry, local importers have brought 133,000 tonnes of rice so far this fiscal FY23 from global sources in the last three months against the government's permission for more than 1.15 million tonnes.
Meanwhile, prices of the rice have been increasing at a time when the Bangladesh Competition Commission (BCC) have issued 19 cases against 17 companies and individuals for their alleged involvement in price manipulation since the beginning of Ukraine-Russia war.
Adani Wilmar's BEOL, Brac Seed and Agro, Square Food and Beverage, Pran Foods, City Group, ACI Ltd, Mabco Hitech Rice Industry Ltd, leading rice traders Abdur Rashid, Md Belal Hossain, Brojen Majumder and others have been directed by the BCC for hearing which started on September 26.