Onion prices at Hili land port in Dinajpur have risen again within two days. After several price cuts, importers were losing money on onions, so they reduced imports, and prices of the staple have started rising again.

People at the port say local onions are currently cheap and there is hardly any demand for imported onions. Excessive heat was also spoiling onions, so importers were forced to sell them cheaply. Having made losses, they have now reduced imports, while the price rise has put wholesalers in difficulty.

In just two days, onion prices rose by Tk 2 to 4 a kg. Two days earlier onions sold at the port at wholesale (truck sale) for Tk 34 to 36 a kg; they now sell for Tk 38.

Yasin Ali, who came to Hili to buy onions, said prices had been falling after the Puja, though demand was low at the trading centres. Now prices have started rising again.

Hili onion traders Sabuj Hossain and Shariful Islam said importers resumed onion imports through the port on 17 October after the Puja holiday. But with no demand for imported onions and local onions somewhat cheaper, they were losing money, and excessive heat spoiling the onions forced them to sell cheaply. Continuing losses led them to cut imports. At current prices in India, importing is profitable only if onions sell for Tk 40 to 42 in Bangladesh, but local prices had fallen to Tk 34 to 36. So loading of onions in India has stopped, imports through the port have fallen, and with supply short of demand, prices are rising.

Hili land port public relations officer Sohrab Hossain said import-export trade through the port had resumed after six days of Puja closure. Onions and other goods are still being imported, but onion imports are falling. Last Monday 474 tonnes of onions came in on 17 trucks; on Tuesday 355 tonnes on 13 trucks; on Wednesday 265 tonnes on 10 trucks; and on Thursday 264 tonnes on nine trucks.

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