Indian ban on onion exports sends prices skyrocketing

India yesterday imposed a ban on export of onions, and the wholesale markets across Bangladesh witnessed an overall hike of Tk 20 per kg within hours.

Talking to wholesalers in Dhaka and Chattogram yesterday evening, The Daily Star found that asking price for Indian onions was Tk 82 per kg while the price for locally grown ones was Tk 87 per kg.

The ingredient was trading between Tk 62 and Tk 71 a kg yesterday morning, but it swiftly went up right after India imposed the ban, said traders and importers.

At Khatunganj wholesale market in Chattogram, the price went up to Tk 100 per kg and traders there stopped selling the bulb in the evening.

Sobuj Mia, a wholesaler at Karwan Bazar in Dhaka, said the price of per kg Indian onion was between Tk 60 and Tk 62 yesterday morning.

In the evening, the variety was sold at Tk 80 per kg at Shyam Bazar wholesale market, he said, adding that he was selling the product for Tk 82.

Traders, however, feared that the price may further rise.

In the last consignment, 11 truck loads of onion entered the country and traders who bought the shipment stored them instead of selling them, said Ashadul Islam, an onion importer at Bhomra.

The ban was imposed more than two weeks after India slapped $850, which is around Tk 71,821, as minimum export price for per tonne of onion.

The export ban made the onion market volatile in Bangladesh as the country meets a portion of its annual demand through imports.

Indian Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution in a statement said the ban on exports would improve domestic availability.

Mohammad Abdul Mazed, general secretary of Shyam Bazar Onion Wholesalers’ Association, said wholesale buyers lost their appetite for purchasing in bulks as they fear incurring loss.

Besides, others fear the price would drop suddenly, he added.

Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB) Spokesperson Md Humayun Kabir said they would continue selling onions at Tk 45 per kg.

Two ships carrying mostly onions arrived at Chattogram Port from Turkey and Egypt yesterday, he said, adding that the bulb would be sold from 16 TCB trucks in Dhaka.

Consumers Association of Bangladesh President Ghulam Rahman said onion traders hiked prices only to make profit. “It is irrational and has no logic,” he said.