After remaining almost static for the last 10 months, the price of beef witnessed a notable hike in a week mainly due to a surge in animal transportation cost owing to a diesel-price hike.
Beef prices shot up to a range between Tk 600 and Tk 660 a kg from Tk 560-600 earlier, according to meat shops in different parts of the city.
Traders said a short supply of cows from across the border was also a reason for the price hike. The supply of cows from the Indian states of UP, Uttarakhand and Haryana, known as the key cow population hubs, was affected by the elections there, they added.
The state-run Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB) recorded 8.0-12 per cent hike in beef prices in just two days. The price increased 6.0 per cent in a week and the current price is 8.0-10 per cent higher than that of a year ago.
Contacted, secretary general of Dhaka Metropolitan Meat Merchants' Association (DMMMA) Rabiul Alam said the beef prices rose amid a hike in animal prices due to skyrocketing transportation costs.
He said the diesel price hike by 23 per cent has fueled the prices of animals by a minimum 15 per cent at the farm level.
A medium ox weighing 120 kgs was trading at Tk 65,000 to Tk 66,000 at the Gabtoli cattle market for the last two weeks.
Many cattle rearers are also selling animals in lesser numbers as they were expecting more profits during the Ramadan and Eid, he said.
Muhammad Mansur, a Gabtoli-based trader who brings Indian cows through Northern districts of Nilphamari and Lalmonirhat, said import has almost stopped for last one month due to elections in some Indian states like UP, Uttarakhand and Punjab.
Despite the ban on cow export by the Indian government, a substantial number of the cattle were still entering into Bangladesh through alternative channels, he said.
"I could bring only four big Indian oxen in the last one month from Dimla in Nilphamari and the prices were Tk 8000-Tk 10,000 higher per animal," he added.
The local traders, who had brought Indian cows two to three months ago, were now making windfall profits, he said.
Secretary of the Consumers Association of Bangladesh (CAB) Humayun Kabir Bhuiyan said the prices of all essentials have increased further in recent weeks, putting millions of commoners into a severe hardship.
He said that beef has already become an item beyond reach of the commoners and any further hike would make it unaffordable even for the middle-income people.
He alleged that a lack of necessary market monitoring is one of the key reasons for the sudden hike in prices of key essentials, he added.
The government claims that the country produces more than 8.0 million tonnes of meat against the demand for 7.5 million tonnes, he said. "But we couldn't find any reflection of such self-sufficiency from the market."
Meat traders, however, said that the price of beef might remain higher for the next one and half months until the Eid-ul-Fitr.
tonmoy.wardad@gmail.com