Retail prices of egg have soared by Tk20-25 per dozen over last two weeks in capital markets, which traders blame on supply shortage.
As of Saturday, a dozen of egg was selling at Tk115-120.
“The prices were only Tk90-100 just 15 days ago,” said Al-Amin, a Malibagh-based retailer, adding that for the last few days, the prices were on constant rise.
He said such high prices of egg were not common. Earlier, he sold eggs at the current high prices only during the last Eid-ul-Fitr.
“Usually the price fluctuates between Tk90 and Tk105, but the price is unusual now,” said Al-Amin, adding that retail sellers did not know why the prices were on the rise.
Md Dulal, a wholesaler at Karwan Bazar, said the egg price jumped because of supply shortage.
“Egg supply sharply fell in warehouses in last few days,” he said, adding that they got only five trucks of eggs every day, which were usually 20 trucks.
He cited fall in egg production in poultry farms as reason for the short supply. “Many poultry chicken died of different diseases and for unfavorable weather in last few days,” he mentioned.
In such situation, some farmers stopped rearing poultry, which also had an impact on the market, added Dulal, hinting that the price fall was unlikely.
Apart from egg, the prices of onion were still high, despite a slight fall in wholesale markets.
Visiting kitchen markets in different parts of the capital, Dhaka Tribune found per kilogram of local onion selling at Tk75-85 in retails, while it was only Tk62-70 in Karwan Bazar wholesale markets.
The prices were Tk5-10 higher just two days ago in the Dhaka’s largest wholesale market, said Nurul Haque, a Karwan Bazar-based wholesaler.
He thinks it will take two or three more days to reconcile the price at retail markets.
The price of onion shot up in the country after an announcement by the Indian government in September 14, which increased onion price to $850 per ton for exports.
“It had bad impacts on onion prices, as our onion market heavily depends on imports, especially from India,” said Haque.
The wholesaler, however, hoped that the prices would further come down, as the traders were trying to import onion from Myanmar and other countries.
Prices of chicken and vegetables were also found higher, while those of garlic and ginger were lower and others essential commodities remained stable compared to the previous week.
Broiler chicken was selling for Tk140-145 per kg, which was Tk130-Tk135 last week. Pakistani chicken was Tk240-Tk250 per piece last week which jumped to Tk250-Tk280 yesterday.
Besides, prices of most of the vegetables including tomato, cucumber, papaya, brinjal increase by Tk5-10.
On the other hand, garlic and ginger were selling at Tk130 and Tk120 yesterday, a fall by TK40 and Tk50 over a week.
Mehedi Hasan, a university student who came to Malibagh for buying some kitchen items, said the prices of egg and onion hurt them.
“Bachelor people like us buy eggs, especially in the last days of month, for their cheap price, but the prices have hit them hard,” he added.
“The prices of other essential products go up and down at wholesale markets, but we always find them high,” said Mehedi, calling for strong monitoring.
