With domestic prices normal and import duty on rice withdrawn, traders at Hili land port in Dinajpur have resumed imports from India after a long 19 months. Traders say retail prices have not fallen but have remained stable.

Retail traders say, however, that because new paddy prices in the market mean higher production costs, there is very little chance of rice prices falling in the coming days. Rather, if paddy prices are high, rice prices will also rise.

According to the Hili customs station office, 130 tonnes of rice came in on 3 Indian trucks last Monday, 1,023 tonnes on 25 trucks on Tuesday, 443 tonnes on 13 trucks on Wednesday, 488 tonnes on 12 trucks on Thursday, 1,257 tonnes on 37 trucks on Saturday and 604 tonnes on 17 trucks on Sunday. Of this, 2,558 tonnes was non-basmati rice. The rice is being imported from India at $410-470 depending on the type.

At Hili port on the evening of Sunday, 17 November, imported 40/94 Langol brand fine rice was selling for Tk 57 to Tk 61 a kg, Nazirshail Katari for Tk 68-70, Guti Swarna for Tk 49-50 and Swarna (5) for Tk 52 to Tk 53.

At Hili market at midday on Monday, 18 November, Katari was selling for Tk 68-70, coarse hybrid 29 rice for Tk 57, Guti Swarna for Tk 48 and Swarna-5 for Tk 51-52 a kg, steady on the previous week.

Auto-rickshaw driver Asir Uddin, buying rice at Hili market, said: "There are five eaters in my household including my grandchild. We need about 2 kg of rice a day. The rice I bought for Tk 50 a kg on Thursday, I bought again today for Tk 50 a kg. The price is the same as before."

Kulo Pradhan, proprietor of Messrs Konok Khaddo Bhandar at Hili market, said: "Rice is currently being imported at Tk 52-53. Imports are likely to rise next week compared with this week. In that case I expect it to sell at Tk 50-51 a kg."

"If LCs had not been opened for imports, rice prices would have risen further," he said. "Some opportunistic traders would have raised prices. Because of the LCs there is no option to raise prices. I hope rice prices won't rise and will fall at least a little next week."

Meanwhile, according to the Birampur upazila agriculture office, the target this year was to grow Aman paddy on 17,445 hectares in the upazila. The land produced 1 lakh 310 tonnes, an average of 5.75 tonnes a hectare.

Anisur Rahman, a paddy trader at Katlabazar in Birampur upazila, said Guti Swarna (raw) is currently selling for Tk 1,150 to 1,200 a maund, Swarna-5 paddy for Tk 1,350, Sampa Katari for Tk 1,600 and hybrid for Tk 1,320.

A farmer named Rashidul Islam said: "I planted Swarna-5 paddy on 7 bighas. It cost Tk 12,000 to 13,000 a bigha and the yield is 16 to 19 maunds. Swarna-5 paddy is selling at Tk 1,350 a maund in the current market. With another Tk 100 for milling and other costs, a maund comes to about Tk 1,450. A maund of paddy produces at most 28 kg of rice, so a kilo of rice costs about Tk 51.74. So the chance of rice prices falling in the coming days is quite low. If the government gives a subsidy, they may fall."

Rice trader Samsul Mia said Indian rice and local rice now cost about the same. "If paddy prices are high, rice prices will rise, and if paddy prices are low, rice prices will fall. That's normal. Farmers can't take a high price for paddy and ask for rice prices to come down."

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