Onion prices are still soaring high in the kitchen markets of Chittagong.
While visiting different kitchen markets in the port city on Tuesday, it was found that onion was being sold at various prices, based on the variety and quality.
Md Zafar Uddin, manager of Mohammadia Banijjalay of Khatunganj wholesale market, told Dhaka Tribune that the overheated onion market would soon cool down with the arrival of big consignments that are currently in the pipeline.
According to wholesalers at the Khatunganj market on Tuesday, the Burmese variety of onion was selling at Tk70 to Tk72 per kilo, the Chinese variety at Tk55 to Tk57, the locally grown variety at Tk78 to Tk80, the Indian variety at Tk85, and the Pakistani variety at Tk65 to Tk66.
Md Idris, general secretary of Khatunganj Hamid Ullah Market Traders' Welfare Association, said: “The amount of onions being imported through Chittagong port is meager against the demand. Moreover, they are distributed across the country, which makes onion even more scarce in Chittagong.”
The Chittagong Plant Quarantine Station (Sea Port) of the department of agricultural extension issued 53 release orders against 3450 metric tons of onion till October 12.
The onion came to Chittagong from four countries including China, Myanmar, Pakistan and India.
The Chittagong Plant Quarantine Station (Sea Port) also issued 390 import permits against 176,618 metric tons of onions from September 3 till October 12.
The onion will be imported from 14 countries including China, Myanmar, Pakistan, Egypt, Turkey, Netherlands, New Zealand, Malaysia, India, Ukraine, South Africa, UAE, Algeria and Uzbekistan.
Importers are required to obtain permission from the Plant Quarantine Station before opening a letter of credit for importing agricultural products.
Deputy Director of the station Ashaduzzaman Bulbul said that the authorities have been helping traders complete import proceedings fast, issuing the import permit (IP) and release orders without any delay.
The Indian government on September 14 banned exports of all types of onions to Bangladesh, citing a shortage in supply in India itself due to heavy rainfall and floods.
The domestic market drastically became unstable following the export ban as almost 90% of the imported onions came from India.
Earlier, in September 2019, India imposed a ban on the export of onions to Bangladesh due to a price hike of the item in its domestic market.
