Onion prices differ Tk50 within one-minute walking distance

A Karwan Bazar wholesaler was selling newly grown local onion for Tk120 per kilogram on Tuesday. A retailer within just a one-minute walking distance was selling the same amount of the cooking ingredient for Tk170. Meanwhile, green onion was selling for Tk140 to Tk180 a kg at different markets in the capital.

The newly grown bulb onion has started arriving at markets, which was supposed to pull down the skyrocketing prices of the item. However, the hope of the customer still remains elusive as the gap between the wholesale and retail prices is huge.

Monirul, a retailer, was asked why he was charging Tk170 while the wholesale price is Tk120 per kg.

"I bought those a couple of days ago at Tk155 per kg. Therefore, the rate is a bit high," he replied.

Apart from the new yield, old local onions were selling for Tk230-Tk250 per kg.

Traders said green onions are still immature and small in size. Many farmers are harvesting it early due to high prices. However, the supply has brought slight normalcy to the market.

Ashraf, a Karwan Bazar wholesaler, said, "Onion prices will gradually drop with the increasing supply of new onions."

Visiting a number of kitchen markets in Dhaka on Tuesday, this correspondent found Chinese onion was the cheapest, Tk70-80 per kg. The wholesale prices of the cooking staple imported from China ranged in between Tk55 to Tk60.

In the meantime, Egyptian onion was selling for Tk100-Tk105 in the wholesale market while the retail prices fluctuated between Tk110 and Tk130.

But the retail price of Burmese onion was Tk220 a kg while it was Tk200 per kg in the wholesale market.