The prices of ginger, one of the main cooking ingredients, witnessed a big rise at city markets last week, augmenting woes of the consumers further.
The prices of onion also considerably increased last week.
Local ginger was sold at Tk 110-120 per kilogramme (kg) while imported Chinese ginger at 140-160 a kg on Thursday at retail markets, a 25-30 per cent hike in one week.
Traders said rising import costs and a decline in local production are the two main causes of such skyrocketing trend in prices of the tuber spice.
Market experts termed the price hike abnormal as it is a peak harvesting season for ginger.
Meanwhile, prices of other essential items remained static maintaining their previous highs.
Lokman Hossain, a grocer at Dhanmondi-15 in the capital, said prices of the spice increased by Tk 400-450 per maund (40 kgs) at Shyambazar and Karwan Bazar in a week.
Hossain said he bought local ginger at Tk 95 a kg from Shyambazar which was Tk 76 a kg earlier.
Assistant Director of the Department of Agricultural Marketing (DAM) G M Mahiuddin told the FE that prices of the spice usually decline in November-January period as it is peak harvesting time in China, India and Bangladesh.
The recent price increase by such a high amount is abnormal, he said.
Ginger was sold at Tk 42-44 a kg in Rangpur in Mid-December which was traded at Tk 80-90 a kg at Dhaka wholesales, he informed.
Traders were benefitting most from the spike in prices of the tuber, he said.
Narayan Chandra Saha, a Shyambazar-based spice importer, told the FE that local production has declined this year so the price is much higher at farm level.
He mentioned that Chattogram Hill Tracts and Rangpur regions are the key ginger producing areas.
He said ginger of the hill districts were yet to hit the market which could help decrease the prices.
He informed that import of Chinese ginger has notably declined in the last two months amid rising import costs.
He also pointed out that productions in Chinese ginger hubs like Shandong, Hunan and Sichuan provinces have declined this year.
Saha said Chinese ginger prices increased by 24-25 per cent to US $1200-1220 per tonne in December last.
The data of the Ministry of Commerce and the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) revealed that the country has a demand for 0.7 million tonnes of ginger per year.
Data showed, only 0.185 million tonnes of ginger were produced in Bangladesh in the last fiscal year (FY '18).
To meet the domestic demand, ginger is imported, mainly from China and India.
On the other hand, the prices of another cooking ingredient, onion, increased by Tk 4.0-5.0 a kg in a week.
Local onion was sold at Tk 35-40 and imported Indian varieties at Tk 28-30 a kg at the city groceries.
