Onion prices again bucked up by Tk 10-20 per kilogram on Thursday, compounding woes of the commoners already battered by price rises of other essentials like rice and edible oils.
Local onion prices shot up to Tk 70-85 a kg and imported to Tk 55-65 a kg in the retail markets on the day, according to trading sources.
Supply crunch of local onions amid off-season stock depletion and rising costs of imports were cited as key reasons by the traders for the latest price prance.
They, however, say the prices might come down with the beginning of harvest of early seed onion (murikata) variety in large amounts within a couple of weeks.
The state-run Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB) recorded a 30-40-per cent hike in onion prices just in three days.
Md Mobarak Hosain, a spice retailer at Kaptan Bazaar, told the FE on Thursday noon that prices of the spice item rose overnight.
"I had to purchase local variety of onion at Tk 68 a kg from Shyambazar today, which was Tk 50-52 a kg two days back," says Hosain.
Jamal Sarker, a grocer at Rayer Bazar in the city, said the price of imported Indian onion also was raised by Tk 7.0-8.0 a kg by the traders in Shyambazar and Karwan Bazar wholesale markets.
Shyambazar-based trader Narayan Chandra Saha said rising import costs as well as supply crunch of local onions caused the sudden hike by Tk 8.0-10 a kg at wholesales in last two days.
He said local onion prices shot up to Tk 65 a kg, imported Burmese onion prices rose to Tk 46-48 a kg and Indian variety to Tk 42-45 a kg at Shyambazar on Thursday.
"Onion prices already had increased both in India and Myanmar in last two weeks, which rose further amid the untimely rain caused by the recent depression in a vast area of the subcontinent that damaged crops," says the wholesaler.
Saha said transport costs also increased by minimum Tk 2.5 a kg after the surge in diesel costs.
He, however, said harvest of the winter-time 'murikata' onion would start in full swing within next two weeks, which could help cool the overheated market.
Customers, especially the limited-income group of people, have vented frustrations due to the sudden price hike of onion.
They called upon the government to take stringent measures to prevent any volatility in essentials' market.
"We are already exhausted due to high prices of essential commodities. The latest and sudden price rise of onion is just another blow on our limited income," Md Enamul Haq, an employee of a roadside cloth shop, told an FE correspondent at Fakirerpool Bazar on the day.
Meanwhile, an official of the commerce ministry told the FE that they were observing the situation and would strengthen their ongoing market-monitoring drives to prevent "any artificial price rise".
Consumers Association of Bangladesh (CAB) vice-president S M Nazer Hossain said the overnight price hike in such a high margin indicates there is "syndication" behind.
He said, "Local onions dominated the market this year amid a bumper production while import cost of the spice was also much lesser than in other years."
He requested the government to raise market monitoring both in Dhaka and onion hubs like Faridpur, Rajbari, Pabna etc to prick any market bubble.
Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) and the commerce ministry data revealed that the country produced 1.97 million tonnes of onion in the financial year (FY) 2020-21 against a demand for 2.6 million tonnes.
Apart from the local outputs, nearly 0.7 million tonnes of onions were imported in the January-November period of 2021.
