Onion prices, which had risen suddenly, have started to fall. A few days ago onions sold for more than Tk 80 a kg at retail; now they cost Tk 55 to Tk 60, depending on quality.

This was the picture on a visit to several markets in the capital on Thursday, 21 October.

Traders say prices have fallen because large quantities of onion have come from India. If supply stays normal, they see no risk of the onion market becoming unstable again.

In the retail markets, onions imported from India are selling at Tk 55-60 a kg. This has brought the price of local onions down to Tk 60, while some shops are selling sorted, good-quality local onions at Tk 65-70 a kg.

At Shyambazar, the capital's biggest wholesale market, onion prices have also fallen by about Tk 10 a kg. Khokon Hossain, owner of Bikrampur House there, told Jagonews he is selling sorted local onions at Tk 52-54 a kg, which had risen to Tk 62-64 a few days ago. Ordinary local onions, he said, are at Tk 45-47.

Explaining why, he said large quantities of onion came from India after the puja holidays ended and are now available wholesale at Tk 42-43. That has brought down the price of every kind of onion, and if this continues, onions will return to their earlier price.

Md Humayun, an onion trader at Karwan Bazar, said prices had risen sharply from the start of the month because of short supply. Now supply has normalised and plenty of good onions are coming into the market, so prices have fallen. A price of Tk 50 or below for local onions can be called normal, he said, and prices will reach that level within a few days.

Yakub, a trader at Khilgaon market, said many people bought and stocked onions when prices suddenly rose, and will now release them as fresh onions arrive, so prices will fall quickly.

He added that the market is very competitive and buyers will buy wherever prices are lowest. TCB is also selling onions cheaply. With prices now falling, there is little demand, he said.

Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.