Beef and broiler chickens witnessed notable hikes in prices in the last few days, augmenting further the sufferings of commoners.
Beef prices hit Tk 720-750 a kg on Sunday, showing a Tk 30-50 hike in a week, according to market sources.
Broiler chicken shot up to Tk 210-220 a kg, marking a rise of Tk 20-30 a kg in the last two days and a surge of Tk 50-60 a kg in just one week, according to the Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB) and city kitchen market sources.
Layer chicken retailed at Tk 260-280 a kg, Pakistani/Sonali at Tk 330-350 and indigenous chickens at Tk 550-600 a kg in the city kitchen markets, showing Tk 30-40 a kg further surge in a week.
The TCB recorded an average of 26 per cent hike in chicken prices in the last seven days.
Meanwhile, the price of khasi (meat of castrated goat) already increased by Tk 50-100 a kg in the last three weeks as it was retailed at Tk 1050-1100 on the day.
Helal Uddin, a poultry farm owner at Atgharia in Panna, said half of the farms are still closed since the COVID-induced lockdown. Only the other half in our locality are operating now, he added.
He said the production cost surged by 80-90 per cent in the last one and a half years amid rocketing costs of poultry feed, transportation, electricity, day-old chickens (DOCs) and other inputs. The minimum price of quality feed is now Tk 65 a kg.
The production cost increased to more than Tk 160 a kg amid the surge in input costs, he added.
Consumers Association of Bangladesh (CAB) vice president SM Nazer Hossain said beef or goat meat has already turned into a luxury item which is beyond reach of poor millions who consume coarse rice, coarse flour or atta, farm egg, broiler chicken, cultured fish and potato.
Prices of these products have increased notably again amid loose monitoring as well as sky-high costs of inputs, he said, urging strict supervision of the market to prevent artificial price hikes.
He said the prices of poultry input should be reduced while the farmers will have to be incentivised to keep poultry items within reach of the commoners.
Meanwhile, local meat importers recently requested the government to withdraw the existing higher tariff value and supplementary duty (SD) on import to ease the overheated price of such items in the domestic market.
Bangladesh Meat Importers and Traders Association (BMITA) requested the commerce ministry to amend the existing Import Policy Order (2022-2024) for allowing meat import as well as to cut the imposed tariff value and SD.
It has requested the government to review the US$ 5.0 a kg tariff value and 20 per cent SD on meat import.
According to the Import Policy 2021-24 Notification, issued in April 2022 by the commerce ministry, prior approval has to be taken from the Department of Livestock for import of meat including frozen buffalo or bovine meat.
Shamim Ahamed, President of BMITA, said the government should allow meat imports and withdraw the tariff value and SD to meet the local demand for meat.
Only imports can help keep the prices within reach of millions of poor people in the country, he added.
According to TCB, the current prices of beef, khasi and chicken are 21, 24 and 30 per cent higher than that of a year ago.
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