Markets are full of seasonal fruit, with both demand and supply high. Although sales of imported fruit have slowed amid the flood of local fruit, prices have not been affected: imported fruit is still selling at the earlier high prices. Some prices are unchanged, while malta and orange have actually become dearer. This has drawn mixed reactions from buyers and sellers.

Sellers say problems at the port have left some fruit in short supply at the arot (wholesale market), so they have to buy at higher prices, which is passed on to retail.

Buyers, on the other hand, say sellers have raised fruit prices because of the recent rise in dengue and other diseases, with malta and orange in particular being sold at higher prices.

This was the picture in several retail markets in the capital on Saturday, 5 July.

In Moghbazar, Modhubagh, Rampura, Malibagh, Khilgaon and Basabo, green apples are still selling at the high price of Tk 320 to Tk 350 a kg. Gala apples are selling at Tk 350 to Tk 380 a kg, and red grapes at Tk 500 to Tk 550 a kg.

Sellers said grapes have fallen by Tk 50 a kg; two weeks ago a kilo of grapes sold for Tk 600 to Tk 650. Pomegranates in these markets are selling at Tk 350 to Tk 600, depending on size.

However, malta and orange are dearer because of short supply. Most shops in these areas have no oranges at all; the one or two that do are asking Tk 360 to Tk 380, compared with Tk 270 to Tk 300 a short while ago, buyers say. Malta is selling at Tk 300 to Tk 320 a kg.

Sohag, a retail fruit seller in Moghbazar, told Jago News that supply of malta and orange is low, and there are hardly any oranges. Because of complications at the port many goods have not been released, so prices have risen at the arot. "We buy at high prices, so we sell at high prices," he said, adding that there is no great difference between wholesale and retail prices. Biplob of Modhubagh, Hasan of Rampura and Sohel of Basabo said the same.

Sohel told Jago News that prices will fall when supply rises, but until then they will stay high at the arot. A carton of malta, which holds 13.5kg, has gone up by Tk 400, and it has reportedly risen further today. "So what can I do about it?" he said.

Buyers do not agree with the sellers' claims. Saleha, a buyer in Malibagh, told Jago News: "Dengue and Covid have been rising recently, and sales of malta and orange have gone up. I have been buying these two fruits myself for two weeks. I come to buy fruit every other day, and each time these two fruits (malta and orange) have gone up by Tk 10 a kg."

Another buyer, Shafiulla Sikder, told Jago News: "The Covid infection rate is high now, and dengue patients have also increased. People who get these two diseases eat more malta, orange and lime. That raises sales, and that is when sellers raise prices, as has happened now."

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