Wheat flour prices marked a fresh spike yesterday as the market continues to suffer from a supply crunch resulting from slumping imports of the grain.

Prices of loose flour have edged up to Tk 60-63 per kilogramme (kg) in the Dhaka city, up 4 per cent from a week ago, according to data from Trading Corporation of Bangladesh.

Similarly, the prices of packaged flour have also increased.

Faria Yasmin, business director of ACI Foods and Commodities under ACI Ltd, linked the hike to a dip in imports.

"Recently, we have not seen any ships coming with imported grains. The last vessel with wheat came from Ukraine," she said.

"So, we have to buy it at high prices," said the official of ACI, which sells packaged wheat flour after buying it from importers.

Between July 1 and November 3, the total imports of wheat fell 47 per cent to 5.57 lakh tonnes from 10.57 lakh tonnes during the same period last year

The price of wheat flour, which was Tk 34 per kg in the capital in January this year, began to rise after Russia's invasion of Ukraine on February 24.

Later in May, India banned shipments of wheat to contain its domestic prices, which fuelled prices in Bangladesh as the neighbouring country has become a major source for the grain in recent years.

Wheat imports fell to its lowest in six years in the fiscal year of 2021-22 amid the lack of availability while many consumers' curtailed consumption after being irked by surging prices for the grain.

Public and private importers brought in 40 lakh tonnes of wheat in the last fiscal, down 25 per cent year-on-year, as businesses drastically cut imports, as per food ministry data.

And between July 1 and November 3 this fiscal year, the total imports of wheat fell 47 per cent to 5.57 lakh tonnes from 10.57 lakh tonnes during the same period last year, food ministry data showed.

With supply remaining low, gas shortages and load shedding have fuelled the cost of production too, Yasmin said.

Biswajit Saha, director of corporate and regulatory affairs at City Group, said imports have also suffered due to the problems in the opening letters of credit amid banks' lack of interest in the face of the US dollar shortage.