The price of onion remained high in the city’s kitchen markets in last week, hitting its peak in the week at Tk 90 a kilogram on Monday.
It, however, fell slightly after Tuesday and the commodity was selling at Tk 70-Tk 75 a kg on Friday.
Before Eid-ul-Fitr, the price of the imported onion was Tk 45–Tk 48 a kg and that of the local onion Tk 50 a kg.
The price of onion was on the rise since Eid due to supply shortage and increased price of the item in India.
In the previous week, the price of the imported onion was Tk 75 a kg and that of the local onion Tk 70 a kg.
Traders said the price of onion started to come down as the Indian traders increased export of the item to Bangladesh last week.
Abul Kalam Azad, an onion importer at Shyambazar, told New Age that the price of onion would decrease further if the Trading Corporation of Bangladesh imports 5,000 tonnes of onion from Myanmar.
Though the price of onion decreased slightly on the retail markets, the retail price of the item was more than double than its wholesale price.
The local and imported onion were selling at Tk 38 a kg and Tk 40 a kg respectively on the different wholesale markets in the capital on Friday.
Ayub Hossain, a businessman who came to the Shantinagar kitchen market for shopping, said dishonest traders were creating an artificial crisis on the local market and gaining excessive profit in absence of strong market monitoring.
The prices of other commodities including vegetables, egg and ginger also increased in the retail markets over the week ending Friday.
Aubergine was selling at Tk 50-Tk 60 a kg, papaya at Tk 25 a kg, okra at Tk 40 a kg and bitter gourd at Tk 50 a kg on Friday.
The price of green chilli remained high and was selling at Tk 120 a kg on the day.
The price of ginger increased by Tk 20 a kg and was selling at Tk 170 a kg on the day.
The prices of fish remained stable over the week ending Friday.
Rohita was selling at Tk 300–Tk 450 a kg on Friday from Tk 250–Tk 350 a kg a week before, katla at Tk 280–Tk 400 a kg from Tk 250–Tk 300 a kg, pangas at Tk 200–Tk 300 a kg from Tk 180–Tk 300 a kg and tilapia at Tk 180–Tk 225 a kg from Tk 160–Tk 200 a kg, depending on their size and quality.
The price of broiler remained unchanged and it was selling at Tk 165- Tk 170 a kg on Friday.
The prices of beef and mutton remained high and beef was selling at Tk 300 a kg and mutton at Tk 450 a kg on Friday.
Sugar price decreased by Tk 2 a kg and it was retailing at Tk 48-Tk 50 a kg in the city’s retail markets.
The price of edible oil remained stable on the market.
Unpacked soya bean was retailing at Tk 120 a kg and super palm oil at Tk 80 a kg over the week ending Friday.
The price of bottled soya bean oil (five litres) remained unchanged and was selling at Tk 625–Tk 650 on Friday.
Red lentil, imported
from Turkey and Canada, was selling at Tk 75–Tk 85 a kg.
The price of fine variety of red lentil called ‘kangaroo’ was selling at Tk 130 a kg while the local variety of red lentil was selling at Tk 115 a kg.
The price of egg increased by Tk 2 a hali (four pieces) and was selling at Tk 34 a hali.
The imported garlic was selling at Tk 70 a kg while the local garlic was retailing at Tk 90 a kg.
The price of potato remained unchanged and the item was selling at Tk 18 a kg on Friday.