The country's flour market has been heating up since India imposed a ban on wheat exports and as a result, the price of the essential commodity has increased by Tk10-Tk12 per kg in just a week.
According to the state-owned organization, Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB), loose atta is being sold at Tk45 per kg, which was Tk38 last week, and Tk35 last month, experiencing a 10.67% monthly hike.
Posting a 5.75% monthly hike, packaged atta is being sold at Tk48 per kg, which was Tk45 per kg last week, and Tk42 last month.
Loose maida is being sold at Tk60 per kg, which was Tk55 last week, and Tk48 last month, registering an 18.37% monthly hike.
On the other hand, packaged maida is being sold at Tk65 per kg, which was Tk60 last week, and Tk55 last month, registering a 10.62% monthly hike.
However, consumers said that the price in some areas of the capital is higher than what TCB’s data states.
“Due to insufficient monitoring in this hard to reach area, the shopkeepers here are increasing the prices at their own will,” said Amirul Islam, a resident of the capital’s West Agargaon area.
A serviceperson of Kalapata Restaurant in the West Agargaon area said that in order to cope with the increased price of cooking oil, they hiked the price of parathas earlier, and now again they have to increase the price due to flour getting more expensive.
Salma Begum, a resident of the Paikpara area of the capital said that the price of flour has been rising for several months.
“When I came to the market, I saw that the price had increased in just a week. We have to reduce the amount of consumption to manage the expenses,” she added.
A seller of a grocery shop in Notunbazar in the Kallyanpur area said that the flour market has been in turmoil for more than two months due to the Russia-Ukraine war.
“In the meantime, due to the export ban of India, the price has risen another point. It has increased by Tk10-12 in a week,” he added.
He also said that they have to buy loose atta at Tk37-Tk38 per kg from the wholesale market which was previously just Tk32. Moreover, they have to buy loose maida at Tk55-Tk57 which was Tk48.
“That is why we have to sell it at higher prices in the retail market.”
Earlier, on Saturday, India banned exports of wheat effective immediately, citing a risk to food security, partly due to the war in Ukraine and as a scorching heatwave curtailed output and domestic prices hit a record high.
According to the Food Ministry, Bangladesh’s annual demand for wheat is around 7.5 million tons, of which just one million tons is produced locally on average in a year.
The remaining demand is met by importing wheat from India, Russia, Ukraine, Canada, Argentina and USA, the overwhelming majority by the private sector.
The government imports just half a million tons, with the private sector accounting for the other six million tons, the secretary said.
Some 60% of the imported amount came from India in 2020-21 due to cheaper and easier transport.
After the export ban, the price of wheat has increased by as much as 25% at Chittagong's Khatunganj, the country's largest wholesale market, sources said.
Indian wheat is being sold at Tk1,500-Tk1,600 per maund (about 37.5 kg), which was Tk1,200 per maund last week.
Moreover, the price of Canadian wheat also increased by about Tk250 per maund to Tk2,050-Tk 2,080 from Tk1,900.
In Bangladesh, the coarse flour (atta) is made from the mixer of Indian and Eurasian wheat, while the finer flour (maida) is made from North American (US and Canadian) wheat or Australian wheat.
Onion prices are still going up
Onion prices have been soaring since last week after the government stopped issuing import permits to protect the interest of local growers.
According to market insiders, the price of the popular cooking herb increased by Tk15-20 per kg in the kitchen markets of the capital.
TCB data showed that the local onion is being sold at Tk45 per kg, which was Tk30-35 last week, and Tk25-30 last month.
Imported onions are being sold at Tk40-45 per kg, which was at Tk25-30 per kg last week, and Tk25 last month.
