Chickpea imports much higher than demand – traders fear losses

The price of chickpea, which usually sees a sudden hike at the beginning of the fasting month of Ramadan amid an uptick in demand, is on the decline this time – thanks to excessive imports.

The Ramadan essential is now retailing at Tk85-95 per kg, which was over Tk100 just a week ago. The price is anticipated to fall further soon.

The unprecedented situation in the chickpea market becomes a boon for consumers already hit hard by price hikes, but a bane for traders.

"I have not seen such large-scale chickpea imports, mostly from India, in the past 15 years. Although it gives relief to consumers in the fasting month, we traders are at a loss," said Mahbubul Alam, president of the Chattogram Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

"It is natural for businesses to see ups and downs and we have no alternative to accepting the situation," he told The Business Standard.

"The price of chickpea is about to return to the previous year's level. This is undoubtedly a relief for consumers," SM Nazer Hossain, vice-president of the Consumer Association of Bangladesh, added.

The country imported nearly 1.5 lakh tonnes of chickpea in the last two and a half months, between 1 January and 13 March, according to the National Board of Revenue, while business insiders estimate the demand for the item at 1.4 lakh tonnes per annum. Furthermore, the import of chickpea will cross 2 lakh tonnes by the end of Ramadan, importers said.

"A kg of chickpea is now selling at Tk5-10 lower than the cost of import. The price will fall further in phases as demand for Ramadan essentials seems lower this year amid price hikes and other economic crises," said Solaiman Badsha, a former president of the traders' association at the largest commodity wholesale hub, Chaktai-Khatunganj in Chattogram.

"The amount of chickpea sold in Khatungonj has now been reduced by half," he added.

At the beginning of last year, the average import price of chickpea was around Tk56 per kg, while it sold at Tk70-75 in wholesale and Tk80-90 in retail. At present, the average price of chickpea in import falls nearly Tk88 a kg, importers said, but it is sold at Tk75-78 in wholesale and Tk85-95 in retail.

About 80% of chickpea used to come from Australia in the previous years for its product quality, while the rest would come from India, Myanmar, Canada, Ethiopia and Bhutan. This year, most chickpea is imported from India, traders noted and figured out the convenience of transportation from the neighbour as one of the reasons behind the excessive imports.

Several importers told TBS that they could not import chickpea from Australia for long due mainly to the dollar crisis. When the government eased the process for opening LCs to import Ramadan essentials shortly before the fasting month, they chose India for quick sourcing.

Revenue board data says, the average import price of chickpea has been increasing steadily since mid-2021 and reached Tk54.12 per kg at the end of that year. It jumped to Tk77.8 per kg in December last.