Rice goes up by Tk 3 a kg
Rice prices are going up in the two major cities -- Dhaka and Chittagong -- as the BNP-led alliance's nationwide blockade continues to disrupt supply.
Prices of all types of rice have risen by up to Tk 3 a kg in both wholesale and retail markets in the two cities, home to over two crore people, though the prices remain unchanged at milling hubs.
Wary wholesalers refrained from bringing supplies for fear of arson attacks on highways while their stocks of rice run low.
“We have to charge higher prices for the rising transport costs,” said Mohammad Alamgir Hossain, a rice wholesaler at Badamtali-Babubazar market, the biggest rice wholesale depot in the capital.
For instance, he paid Tk 34,000, more than double the usual truck fare, to source rice from Chapainawabganj, a major rice milling hub and also a hotspot for political violence, early this week.
According to Alamgir, the cost of transporting rice from Kushtia, another major rice milling zone, rose around 40 percent since the non-stop blockade began on January 6. A 15-tonne capacity truck now charges around Tk 21,000, up from about Tk 15,000.
Moreover, rice traders have to bear the loss if the cargo is torched. At normal times, suppliers take the full responsibility for carrying rice to the stores.
“This has made us very cautious about getting deliveries.” All these factors have led to the price spike of rice, said the wholesaler.
Retailers are selling fine rice for over Tk 50 a kg, which was Tk 48 two weeks ago, said Mohammad Rajon, a rice retailer at Palashi kitchen market.
The prices of other types of the staple also went up in the last two weeks, he said.
Coarse rice, consumed by low-income people, sold Tk 35-37 a kg yesterday. The price was Tk 34-37 a kg a week ago, show the retail price data compiled by the state-run Trading Corporation of Bangladesh.
Abdul Matin, a rice wholesaler at the capital's Mohammadpur Krishi Market, said traders usually keep a certain level of stock. But they cannot maintain it, as fewer trucks now carry rice to the capital.
Alamgir said around 300 trucks usually bring rice to the city every day but the number has dropped. Wholesalers now target weekends to get deliveries from millers to cut risk of attacks, he said.
However, Volanath Das, manager of wholesale shop Janata Rice at Badamtali-Babubazar market, said stocks at traders' end fell marginally and wholesalers were trying to maintain the usual level even if it meant paying higher transport fares and taking risks of loss.
“There is enough stock to meet the demand in Dhaka city. There is nothing to be worried about,” he added.
In the port city, prices of all types of rice rose by Tk 100-150 per 50-kg sack in the last two weeks.
Wholesalers are selling each 50-kg sack of fine rice for Tk 2,300-2,350, up from Tk 2,150-2,200 two weeks ago. The wholesale prices of coarse rice Swarna rose to Tk 1,560 per sack from Tk 1,450.
The number of trucks bringing supplies to the port city dropped for the unrest, said Md Jamal Hossain, general secretary of Chaktai Traders Association.
More than a hundred truckloads of rice used to arrive at the market. The number has slumped to 30, he said.
Md Abdur Rashid, president of Bangladesh Auto, Major and Husking Mills Association, said rice stocks at the mills swelled over the last few days.
“Stocks have piled up at our end. We can neither send rice nor get delivery of paddy from our agents in the suburbs. We are in big trouble.”
Rashid warned that prices of rice would rise further if the political unrest persists.
The situation could worsen for the entire sector. Many millers' bank loans would be classified if the current situation continues for two more weeks, added the president of the association that has around 17,000 members.
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