Onion price drops slightly; import of 40m eggs allowed

The price of onions has started coming down slowly, with 1 kilogram being sold for Tk80, following the government imposing price caps on four products, while the prices of eggs and potatoes have remained stable so far.

The government has allowed four companies to import 40 million eggs to bring the prices down in the local market, which is now at Tk52 and above for four pieces.

The companies are Mim Enterprise, Tiger Enterprise, Prime Energy, and Arnob Trading, said a notification issued by the commerce ministry on Monday.

Commerce Secretary Tapan Kanti Ghosh told the media that the four companies had not been given a specific time frame, but asked to import eggs as soon as possible.

Imported eggs cannot be sold at more than Tk12 each, said the secretary.

Saifur Rahman, proprietor of Tiger Trading Ltd, told The Business Standard that they sought permission to bring 100 million pieces of eggs but got permission for 10 million.

He said exportable egg price in India is now Tk5.9-7.2 (Rs4.5-5.5). 

"We could bring eggs from India within seven working days … We could supply it at below Tk9 a piece while the maximum retail price would not surpass Tk10," added the importer.

However, visiting the retail markets in the capital on Monday, it was observed that most traders were not complying with the government-fixed price cap of Tk12 for each egg, Tk65 for each kg of local onion and Tk36 for potato, which came into effect on Thursday. 

A dozen eggs were not available for less than Tk150, meaning each egg still costs Tk12.50.

On the other hand, the price of local onion has dropped slightly to Tk80-85 from Tk90 before, meaning onion is still sold at a 23% higher price than the government-fixed rate, while the price of potato has remained stable at Tk50 a kg, 38% higher than the price cap.

The government had also fixed the price of sugar more than a month ago. While loose sugar is priced at Tk130 per kg, it is being sold at Tk140-145. The Ministry of Commerce could not bring the sugar market under control even in one month. 

Action ordered against potato hoarder in Munshiganj

The Directorate of National Consumer Rights Protection (DNCRP) has ordered action against a trader in Munshiganj for illegal hoarding of potato in his cold storage, and overcharging the product.

The accused, identified as Rasho Babu, was selling potatoes at Tk37 a kg.

He allegedly made an additional profit of Tk60 lakh by hoarding 10,000 sacks of potatoes in his storage this season, according to the directorate.

"Traders like Rasho Babu have created instability in the potato market across the country, despite sufficient stock of the product," said AHM Shafiquzzaman, director general of the DNCRP, after questioning Rasu following a raid at his cold storage.

Rasho was also ordered to sell the stocked potatoes at Tk27 a kg. 

The directorate is currently conducting raids on cold stores of potatoes across the country, which have yielded no results so far in the prices.