Onion prices have been increasing in the city market for last few days, adding to woes of the consumers already hit hard by the price hike in essentials.
Traders have attributed the hike to a recent surge in onion prices in India.
But market experts blamed big importers and traders for the surge in prices, saying that they have targeted to make windfall profits ahead of Eid-ul-Azha festival.
Onion of local varieties has been selling at Tk 60-Tk 65 and imported Indian varieties at Tk 40-Tk 45 a kilogramme (kg) in Dhaka for the last seven days, up from Tk 35-Tk 45 and Tk 30-35 a kg respectively.
Prices of the major spice item went up by Tk 650 to Tk 700 per 100-kg sack in last 15 days at wholesales, according to traders at Shyambazar wholesale market in the city.
The state-run Trading Corporation of Bangladesh data showed a 22-23 per cent hike in onion prices in last two weeks.
Narayan Chandra Saha, a trader at Shyambazar wholesale, told the FE that import prices shot up to $ 350 a tonne in last one month from $ 180-$ 200 a tonne in June.
He said onion prices have increased further in India.
When asked, he said the prices of local onion usually increase following a rise in import cost.
"Big traders in Faridpur, Pabna, Natore and Jhenaidah have a good stock of local onion, but they raise the prices due to a hike in imported spices," he said.
Indian business daily The Economic Times reported that quality onion prices increased to 1,475 rupee per quintal (100 kg) in July from 1,100 rupee in June at Lasalgaon onion hub.
The daily also reported that the prices of the spice have been climbing amid crop loss in some other states.
Golam Rashid, a spice trader at Bhanga in Faridpur district, told the FE that they have no stockpile of onion.
He said traders at Shyambazar, Karwan Bazar and Moulvibazar wholesales in Dhaka were controlling the prices of both imported and local varieties of onion.
"Prices of both the varieties are increasing from the same centre," he said.
Consumers Association of Bangladesh (CAB) President Golam Rahman told the FE that a sudden hike in onion prices is 'artificial'.
He said many traders are stockpiling onion, targeting windfall profits ahead of the religious festival next month.
Mr Rahman said the present stock of onion was imported in May-June when the price was 5.0 rupee to 11 rupee (Tk 6.0 to Tk 13.4) a kg at Lasalgaon in India, the biggest onion hub in the world.
"The traders don't wait a minute to raise the prices if it rises in an exporting country, but it takes months for them to reduce prices when import cost declines."
He claimed that the government had totally failed to keep the prices of essentials within the buying capacity of the poor people due to absence of market monitoring.
The production of onion was 1.9 million tonnes in the country while private importers brought in another 0.55 million tonnes as of June this year.
The demand for the item in the country is 2.2 million tonnes, according to the data of Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics and the Ministry of Commerce.
However, prices of broiler chicken, egg, some vegetables and green chilli also increased in last four days in the city.
Traders attributed the hike in prices to recent rainfall across the country.
