Wholesale onion prices at Hili land port in Dinajpur fell by Tk 12 a kg as soon as imports resumed after the Puja holidays. Onions that sold at Tk 48-50 a kg at the port before the closure are now down to Tk 36-38.

Mirajul Islam and Siraj Uddin, who had come to buy onions at Hili, said: "We buy onions from the port and supply them to different parts of the country. Before the Puja closure we bought onions at the port for Tk 45-50 a kg. Since imports resumed after the closure, the price has fallen to Tk 36. Earlier, because prices were high, onion sales had dropped and we feared losses. We had also sent onions to the wholesale markets at the higher price, and those stocks are still there. But the fall in price now has helped us a lot."

Hili onion importer Mahfuzar Rahman and trader Rabiul Islam said onion imports through the port resumed after the Durga Puja holidays. With supply rising in the domestic market, prices have started to fall. The main reason for the fall, however, is the government's withdrawal of duty on onion imports, which cut about Tk 2 a kg. On top of that, large quantities of onion are being imported from Myanmar; that onion is relatively cheap and in good demand.

They added that because of demand before the Puja holidays, a lot of onion was imported. With no demand during the holidays, the previously imported onions are still in local importers' stores. With no sales and intense heat, onions are rotting, and many are being forced to sell cheaply. With no demand in the wholesale markets, there is a shortage of buyers at the port, and prices are falling as imports resume after the holidays. The price of local onions has also fallen from Tk 60 to Tk 45-50. New green onions will soon start arriving, and prices will fall further.

Hili land port public relations officer Sohrab Hossain said import and export trade through the port resumed on Sunday after a six-day closure up to 16 October. Onions were imported along with other goods: 474 tonnes of onion arrived that day on 17 trucks, and were quickly cleared and delivered to importers. Imports through the port also continued yesterday.

Source: Bonik Barta. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.