Finance
Onion Price Panic as onion prices plummet after India resumes export
Dhaka, January 5: Even five days ago, onions imported from China, Turkey, Ukraine, Netherlands and Egypt were sold at Tk 35 to Tk 45 per kilogram in Khatunganj, Chittagong, but the news of the entry of Indian onions in the market has caused the prices of those onions to come down overnight. Traders said that if Indian onion imports are not stopped immediately, the importers who helped during the crisis will go out of business.
On Monday (January 4), the country's largest consumer goods market, Khatunganj in Chittagong, had thousands of sacks of onions imported from China, Turkey, Ukraine, the Netherlands and Egypt.
Most of the stockists are trying to sell onions imported from other countries even though they have incurred losses after receiving the news that Indian onions have entered the market. But retailers are not showing much interest in the hope that onion prices will fall further.
Traders said Indian onions were being sold at Tk 52 to Tk 55 in Khatunganj on Monday. On the other hand, domestic onions are being sold at Tk 30 to Tk 35 per kilogram, Turkish onions at Tk 20 and the Netherlands and Chinese onions at Tk 14 to Tk 15 every kilogram. The biggest losers are onion importers from China, Turkey, the Netherlands and Egypt.
Originally, a large quantity of onions was imported from these countries at Tk 40 to Tk 45 a month ago. But for two weeks the price was reduced to Tk 25. But on Sunday (January 3), the news of Indian onion import through Satkhira's Bhomra land port reached Khatunganj and the price of onion from China, Turkey, Ukraine, Netherlands and Egypt dropped to Tk 14; The price of domestic onion has come down to Tk 30 to Tk 35.
Mohammad, manager of Messrs. Golam Brothers in Khatunganj, said the news of Indian onion imports has created instability in the market. Now most of the wholesalers are selling onions at lower prices for fear of further fall in prices. Retailers are also not going to the market in the hope that they will get onions for less in the future.
