Fresh blow to consumers as wheat flour prices jump
The price of wheat flour has increased in retail markets due to a decrease in imports and rise in international market prices, dealing a fresh blow to the people who are already struggling to make their ends meet.
On Monday, consumers in two of Dhaka's biggest kitchen markets had to pay Tk 55 to Tk 58 per kilogramme (kg) for loose flour. It was Tk 50 last Thursday.
A two-kg packet of branded flour was selling for Tk 125 whereas it was previously Tk 115.
According to data from the Trading Corporation of Bangladesh, loose flour sold at Tk 52 to Tk 55 per kg a month ago while packaged flour at Tk 55 to Tk 60. The latter was now up 4.35 per cent.
Mohammad Bablu, manager of Mayer Doya General Store in Karwan Bazar, one of the biggest kitchen markets in Dhaka, said prices started going up from last Thursday and apparently this would continue in the near future.
Nurul Alam Shikdar, a retailer in Pallabi Extension area of Mirpur, said they were selling two-kg packets of flour at Tk 125 to Tk 127 whereas it was Tk 115 four or five days ago.
Some retailers of several market in Chattogram and Dhaka made similar comments.
According to wholesale traders of Khatunganj, Indian wheat was selling at Tk 1,910 per maund (around 37 kilogrammes) while Canadian wheat Tk 2,400 yesterday.
The prices of both types had gone up by Tk 100 in just one week, said Azad Alamin, owner of Azad Trading in the Khatunganj wholesale market.
"…prices have been on the rise since the war began between Russia and Ukraine. Before the war, Indian wheat was sold at Tk 900 and wheat from Russia, Ukraine and Canada at Tk 1,100 per maund," he said.
The price increased by Tk 50 in the last two days following Russia's withdrawal from an export agreement, he added.
Under the United Nations (UN)-brokered grains deal, a Joint Coordination Centre comprising UN, Turkish, Russian and Ukrainian officials agrees on the movement of ships and inspects the vessels, reports Reuters.
Moscow suspended its participation in the Black Sea deal on Saturday in response to what it called a major Ukrainian drone attack on its fleet in Russia-annexed Crimea, it added.
Hundreds of thousands of tonnes of wheat booked for delivery to Africa and the Middle East are at risk after Russia's withdrawal, with Ukrainian corn exports to Europe also expected to be hit, the report said.
Chicago wheat futures jumped almost 6 per cent on Monday as Russia's withdrawal from the Black Sea export agreement raised concerns over global supplies, according to Reuters.
Businesspeople said wheat imports have decreased in the last six months due to various reasons and now its impact was starting to fall at the wholesale and retail levels.
Taslim Shahriar, senior assistant general manager of the Meghna Group of Industries, said opening letters of credit had turned complicated and volatility of dollar prices adversely affected retail prices of wheat.
The price of wheat has increased in the international market for which the price of flour is increasing in the local market, he said. He said yesterday they bought Russian wheat at $400 per tonne whereas it was $370 to $380 just a couple of days ago.
With Russia withdrawing from the grain export deal, the market conditions will worsen in the coming days, Shahriar added.
According to a report by the Bangladesh Trade and Tariff Commission (BTTC), Bangladesh imported 33.04 lakh tonnes of wheat in the first nine months of this year.
It was a decrease of 10.11 lakh tonnes from that in the same period of 2021.
This is expected to have a negative impact on the wheat flour and rice market, the report said.
The BTTC recently submitted the report to the commerce ministry, highlighting the situation regarding the country's demand, local production, import, current stock and what was in the pipeline.
The country's annual demand for wheat is around 70 lakh tonnes to 75 lakh tonnes, 85 per cent of which is met through imports, according to data from the National Board of Revenue and Department of Agricultural Extension.