Onion, broiler chicken and loose edible oil became pricier last week increasing sufferings of the consumers, especially the commoners, already hit hard by price hike of other essentials.
Onion prices witnessed a hike of Tk 5.0-6.0 a kg at retail level last week after remaining static for the previous three consecutive weeks.
Visiting different kitchen markets in the city this correspondent found local varieties of onion selling at Tk 60-70 a kilogram and the imported ones Tk 55-60 a kg on Thursday.
According to the Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB), onion witnessed an 8.0-10 per cent hike in a week.
Retailers and big traders blamed each other for the sudden price hike of the kitchen staple.
Jahangir Alam, a grocer at Dhanmondi-15 in the city, said that onion pries witnessed a rise by Tk 4.-4.5 a kg at the wholesale level last week.
He said local onion of 'Taherpuri' variety was sold at Tk 56-60 a kg on Thursday morning at different wholesale markets in the capital.
He also said that imported Indian onion was traded at Tk 46-48 a kg at the wholesales on the day.
Shyambazar-based spice trader Kabir Hossain said onion prices witnessed only Tk 1.0-2.0 a kg hike in the week following a normal market trend as prices showed a slight hike at Mokams (wholesale hubs in districts).
"But retailers have raised prices at their wish," he said, adding "We are selling local varieties of onion at Tk 50-52 a kg depending on quality."
However, Mr Hossain said that there are sufficient stocks of onion at Mokams in different districts. He claimed that those stocks are enough to ensure a sound supply chain for the next two months until beginning of the new harvesting season. He also expected that the present stock will be sufficient to ensure stability in onion prices during that period.
The wholesaler further said that at present the supply of imported onion is also good thanks to static import prices.
The country has a demand for 2.4-2.6 million tonnes of onion of which it produces nearly 2.0 million tonnes, according to the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics and the commerce ministry.
Broiler chicken, one of the main sources of protein for the commoners, became costlier by Tk 10 a kg in the last seven days and Tk 20 in the last couple of weeks. The chicken was sold at Tk 155-165 per kg in the city on Thursday.
Farm egg prices, however, remained static maintaining their previous high of Tk 112-118 a dozen (per 12 pieces).
Loose edible oil showed further hike by Tk 3.0 per litre as super palm oil was sold at Tk 140-142 a litre and loose soybean oil Tk 145-148 a litre on the day.
Consumers said the latest round of cost hike of cooking oil which had already witnessed multiple price hikes in the last few months, has cut a big hole at their pockets.
However, prices of bottled soybean oil of different brands remained static at their previous high of Tk 159-160 a litre in the week.
