Traders are charging exorbitant prices for some fruits to cash in on the demand from dengue patients in the wake of the outbreak of the mosquito-borne disease across the country.
The demand for some imported juicy fruits increased significantly in the absence of their local substitutes, said market observers.
'Malta' was being sold at Tk 220-Tk 240 a kg at the retail level across the country on Friday.
The data available with the Bangladesh Bank suggest that the import cost of different varieties of fruits including 'malta' is Tk 90 to Tk 110 a kg this year.
However, the produce is being sold at Tk 180-Tk 190 a kg by importers, according to sources at the Badamtoli Fruits Wholesale Market in the city.
Some imported fruits like apple, malta, orange, pears, pomegranate and grape were selling at 40-100 per cent higher prices than the import costs, official figures show.
The golden variety (greenish) of apple was selling at Tk 200-230 and the royal gala variety at Tk 140-180 a kg against the import costs of Tk 100-120 a kg.
Pomegranate of different varieties was selling at Tk 280-350 a kg.
The 'Sultana' (Thompson green seedless) variety of grape was priced at Tk 250 to Tk 350 a kg at the retail level in the country in the last two months.
FreshPlaza.com a global commodity portal, in its latest report, said supply of apple was ample in the global markets until August 2019.
Golden apple of the South Africa origin was being exported at US$ 16-17 per carton containing 12.5 kg (Tk 107 to Tk 114 a kg), according to Fresh Plaza.
The US-based trade portal 'Tridge' said average prices of pomegranate of India, China, Malaysia, Morocco, Turkey, Iran and Afghanistan were $1.46 per kg (Tk 126 a kg) between May and August.
Bangladeshi importers brought in 0.6 million (6.0 lakh) tonnes of costly fruits like apple, malta, orange, pomegranate, grape and so on from 50 countries including China, Brazil, Argentina, South Africa, Hong Kong, India, Pakistan, Iran, Turkey, Australia, the USA, Germany and France in 2018, according to the Bangladesh Bank.
Apple accounted for 0.25 million tonnes, followed by Malta with 0.21 million tonnes.
Md Ismail Hossain, a resident of Madhabpur in Habiganj, said his sister fell sick with the dengue virus in July last.
He said prices of malta were below Tk 200 a kg in the April-May period. The prices increased to Tk 240-Tk 260 a kg in the July-August period with the outbreak of the deadly dengue fever.
Md Lehaj Uddin, an official at Bangladesh Fresh Fruits Association (BFFEA), said import of fruits might increase by 30 per cent in 2019 amid the rising demand followed by the dengue outbreak.
He said malta might top the import list in 2019 by surpassing apple.
When asked, importer Mohammad Solayman Selim, deputy managing director of 'Madina Fresh Fruits' at Ahsanullah Road, Badamtoli, said they were making just 8.0 to 10 per cent profits.
He claimed they were selling malta at Tk 160-Tk 172 a kg against the import cost of Tk 152-Tk 160.
He said they fix prices taking into account the 30-50 per cent post-delivery loss.
"My company brought 120 tonnes of Chinese malta (mandarin) last month. Of them, 45 tonnes have rotten due to delay at the port and traffic congestions between Chattogram and Dhaka," he said.
"We hardly could make profit from the consignment", he said.
Hazi Md Shamsul Haque, proprietor of Haji M/S Shakil Fruits Agency, told the FE that the global fruit and vegetable market is much divergent than that of any other produce.
He said a war-like situation involving India and Pakistan over the Kashmir issue and almost a halt to imports from Iran, Syria and some other Arabian countries pushed up the import costs of some fruits.
He said a halt to export of apple, pears and grape from Kashmir means prices will increase in the subcontinent.
He said decline in domestic mango production also caused a spike in demand for imported fruits this year.
Deputy Director (Research, Market Linkage) at the state-run Department of Agricultural Marketing (DAM) said they started ensuring logical prices for imported fruits.
"We found retail prices of some imported fruits over 100 per cent higher than the import costs", he said.
He said leading importers in Dhaka and Chattogram should be brought under watch to keep prices within the reach of commoners.
