Shawdesh Desk:

The prices of onions again increased to Tk 120 a kilogram in the Dhaka city’s kitchen markets over the week ending Friday.

Traders said that the price of the spice might remain high until the harvesting of the new crop in November and December.

They said that although onions were being imported from Myanmar, Turkey and Egypt following imposition of an export ban on the item by India, the volume of import was lower than the demand.

The prices of onions rose by Tk 15-20 a kg over the week. The local variety of onions was selling for Tk 110-120 a kg and the imported onions were selling for Tk 100-120 a kg in the city markets on Friday.

Earlier, onion prices increased to Tk 120 a kg from Tk 80 a kg on September 30 in the city’s kitchen markets after India, the biggest import source for Bangladesh for the spice, had imposed the ban on export of the item on September 29.

The prices of the item started decreasing slowly in the first week of this month as a huge quantity of onions imported from Myanmar, Egypt and Turkey began to hit the market.

The item was selling for prices between Tk 70 and Tk 90 a kg in the first and second weeks of this month.

But the prices of onions started rising again in the third week of October.

The prices of garlic and red lentil also increased in the city markets over the week ending Friday.

The prices of garlic increased by Tk 10 a kg and the garlic imported from China was retailing at Tk 140-160 a kg while its local variety was selling for Tk 130-160 a kg in the city’s kitchen markets.

The prices of red lentil increased by Tk 5 a kg and the coarse variety of imported red lentil was selling for Tk 75-80 a kg while its fine variety was retailing at Tk 100-120 a kg.

The prices of vegetables remained high over the week.

Aubergine was selling for Tk 60-80 a kg, papaya for Tk 25-30 a kg, bitter gourds for Tk 60 a kg, okra for Tk 60 a kg, bottle gourds for Tk 50-60 apiece, cucumber for Tk 50-60 a kg and tomatoes for Tk 80-120 a kg on Friday.

Green chilli was selling for Tk 80- 100 a kg on the day.

The price of eggs remained high and the item was selling for Tk 38-40 a hali (four pieces) on Friday.

The price of broiler chicken remained unchanged over the week and the item was selling for Tk 135-140 a kg in the city markets on Friday. The locally bred hens were selling for Tk 500 a kg.

Beef was selling for Tk 550-570 a kg while mutton was selling for Tk 750-800 a kg on Friday in the city markets.

The local variety of ginger was selling for Tk 130-140 a kg and the imported variety for Tk 150-160 a kg on Friday.

The prices of fish remained unchanged in the city markets over the week.

Rohita was selling for Tk 250-380 a kg and Katla for Tk 250-350 a kg, depending on their size and quality.

Pangas was selling for Tk 130-190 a kg and Tilapia for Tk 120-180 a kg.

Potato was selling for Tk 25-30 a kg in the city’s kitchen markets.

The retail prices of edible oil also remained unchanged over the week.

A one-litre container of soya bean oil was selling for Tk 100-102 and a five-litre container for Tk 490-510 on Friday.

Unpacked soya bean oil was selling for Tk 90-95 a kg, while palm oil was retailing at Tk 80 a kg.

The prices of rice remained unchanged over the week.

The coarse variety of rice was selling for Tk 38-40 a kg while BR-28 rice was retailing at Tk 42-45 a kg in the city markets on Friday.

The fine variety of Miniket rice was selling for Tk 55-60 a kg while its coarse variety was retailing at Tk 52-54 a kg.

The fine variety of Najirshail rice was retailing at Tk 58-62 a kg and its standard variety at Tk 56-58 a kg.

Fine-quality packaged salt was selling for Tk 38 a kg, while the refined variety of salt was retailing at Tk 25 a kg.

The prices of sugar remain high and the refined sugar was selling for Tk 65 a kg, while the locally produced sugar was retailing at Tk 70 a kg in the city markets.