Ctg commodity prices lower than last Ramadan

The wholesale prices of essential items for Ramadan have remained lower than last year at Khatunganj in the run-up to the Muslim holy month thanks to a surge in imports in the last four months.

Take, for instance, chickpeas, an iftar staple. About 80,000 tonnes of chickpea is consumed during Ramadan, according to the Bangladesh Tariff Commission.

At Khatunganj, the port city's wholesale hub, yesterday, chickpeas were selling for Tk 55 to Tk 62 a kilogram. Last year, the wholesale price for a kg of chickpeas was more than Tk 70.

It was the same for lentils, another popular commodity during Ramadan. The Indian lentil went for Tk 53 a kg at the wholesale hub in contrast to Tk 70 ahead of Ramadan last year.

The wholesale price of dun peas ranged from Tk 30 to Tk 34 per kg in the last one week against Tk 38 last year.

The prices of edible oil have dropped by Tk 50 to Tk 100 per maund (37.32 kg) at the wholesale hub in a span of one month.

Wholesalers were found selling palm oil yesterday at Tk 2,400 per maund against Tk 2,500 a month back; soya bean oil was selling for Tk 3,080 per maund, down from Tk 3,130 the previous month.

The prices are lower than last year due to ample supply in the market, said Ratan Ghosh, proprietor of wholesale firm JS Traders at Khatunganj.

And the reason for the ample supply is a spike in imports, brought about by the lower prices of the commodities in the international market at the beginning of the year, said Abul Bashar Chowdhury, chairman of BSM Group, one of the leading commodity importing firms.

For instance, 1,023,936 tonnes of raw sugar has been imported in the last four months against the Ramadan demand for 3 lakh tonnes.

Edible oil has been imported more than triple the Ramadan demand for 2.50 lakh tonnes.

Around one lakh tonnes of lentil have been imported in the last four months while the Ramadan demand is only 40,000 tonnes.