The prices of rice, red meat and chicken increased further in the city ahead of the holy Shab-e-Barat to be observed tonight (Friday night).
Both daily eating and fragrant rice became pricier, but the aromatic variety witnessed a sharp rise by Tk 10-15 a kg to Tk 110-130.
Other varieties of rice witnessed a further hike of Tk 2.0-4.0 a kg and were selling at Tk 52-86, according to the market sources.
Coarse rice was found only in a few shops in the city which was being retailed at Tk 50-52 a kg.
Medium variety of BRRI dhan 28 was retailing at Tk 56-58 a kg at the grocery shops on Thursday while the finer quality of miniket at Tk 68-72 a kg and najirshail Tk 75-86 a kg.
Fragrant kalijeera and chinigura were retailing at Tk 112-115 (loose) and Tk 125-130 (branded) per kg on the day.
Monowar Hossain, a grocer at Rajabazar in Farmgate area, told the FE that BRRI dhan 28, miniket and najirshail prices increased by Tk 130-140 per 50 kg sack in the last one week.
Aromatic rice prices increased by Tk 8.0-10 a kg at Badamtoli wholesale to Tk 104-106 a kg, he said.
He said that the brands kept the MRP tag the same, but raised the wholesale price for the grocers to Tk 116-120 a kg, which was earlier Tk 107-109.
"We used to sell branded aromatic rice at Tk 115-120 a kg though their MRP was Tk 125-130. But a rise in wholesale rate has forced us to realise the official MRP now, resulting in a hike in consumers' cost," he added.
Asked about daily eating rice, Rubel Wakil, a Badamtoli-based trader in the city, said the millers have raised the prices of medium and finer varieties of rice by Tk 1.5-2.0 a kg in the last two and half weeks.
He said the traders have introduced a new strategy by raising prices much before the holy month of Ramadan and Eid festival to avoid grilling by the monitoring agencies.
Ashwini Majumder, a Dinajpur-based trader, said the big companies like Square, Pran, City, Aarong etc. are now dominating the fragrant rice market.
He said that as production of fragrant rice has reduced notably in regions like Dinajpur, Rangpur and Bogura, a limited number of farmers have become contract growers of the companies to get good returns. The companies fix the prices, he said.
Layek Ali, secretary of Bangladesh Auto Major Husking Mill Owners Association, said the prices of some off-season rice varieties showed marginal hikes following the normal trading trend.
Value chain expert Prof Golam Hafeez Kennedy said the rice prices might remain higher until the next Boro harvest as imports almost remained halted due to more than 62 per cent duties.
He said the millers and companies have taken the hold of the market amid lack of alternative sources.
The prices of rice are increasing gradually despite having a bumper production of Aman as well as a substantial supply in the state-run warehouses, he said.
So, import of rice should be encouraged immediately to ease the domestic market, he added.
Consumers Association of Bangladesh (CAB) vice president SM Nazer Hossain said the companies' maximum cost for one kg kalijeera rice would be Tk 78 this season, but they are now charging Tk 115 a kg.
The government-run agencies should also look into the issue seriously, he said.
Meanwhile, beef prices increased further by Tk 20-30 to Tk 640-680 a kg in different markets on the day amid rising demand ahead of Shab-e-Barat.
Khasi (castrated male goat) meat prices reached Tk 1,000 a kg while other goat meat Tk 850-900 a kg.
Pakistani chicken (known as kok) witnessed Tk 40 a kg hike as sold at Tk 340-360 a kg. Broiler price further increased to Tk 165-180 a kg on the day.
However, prices of quality chickpea (refined full grain), used for making halowa (a traditional sweet item) during Shab-e-Barat, increased by Tk 10 a kg as sold at Tk 90-100 a kg on Thursday.
Normal chickpea remained static at Tk 70-80 a kg, according to grocers.
Poor consumers still had to buy branded soybean oil at Tk 168-170 a litre as most of the vendors were yet to begin retailing loose edible oil, market sources said.
Sugar prices, however, remained static at the previous high of Tk 80-90 a kg.
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