Onion import from Turkey, Myanmar rises

Onion imports from alternative countries are on the rise due to the rising prices of Indian onions.

The price of Indian onion has increased by 83 per cent in the wholesale market of Chattogram in a month.

Today, Indian onion was sold at the wholesale markets at Tk 55 per kg while it was sold at Tk 30 in mid of August.

Meanwhile, 7,500 tonnes of onions have entered the country through Teknaf land port and 496 tonnes through Chattogram port in the last 10 days from September 3. At least 6,000 tonnes of onions are waiting to be unloaded in the ports, according to the port sources.

Even a week ago, an average of 5-10 trucks of onions have entered the country through Teknaf land port, which is now an average of 100-120 trucks of onions a day, said Abdur Nur, Revenue officer of the Teknaf Land Port Custom Station.

"Onion import from Myanmar has started from September 3. Before that, one or two trucks of onions used to come in a week. At present, about 90 per cent of the total imports from Myanmar are onion," he said.

The onion traders said the import of onions from India's alternative market needs more time due to the distance of the counties. So the amount of onion will increase in the market gradually.

In Khatunganj wholesale market, traders were selling Indian onion at Tk 53-55 a kg today while the price of the cooking ingredient was at Tk 30 a month back. The wholesale price of Myanmar's onion is Tk 35-40 per kg.

In the retail market of Chattogram city, onions were being sold at Tk 10 to 20 per kg more than in the wholesale market.

Md Absar Uddin, an onion importer and owner of M/S Sonali Traders, said the onion production has declined in some states of Indian due to rains.

"As a result, the price of onion has gone up to Rs 30 now, which used to be sold Rs 20 per kg in two weeks ago in India. Moreover, the cost of transportation has doubled during the week-long Puja holiday," he said.  

"Now the price of onion increases around Tk 50 per kg to reach the border of Bangladesh. As a result, it is not possible to sell onions in the market at a lower price," he added.

Omar Faruque, director of Ira Traders, a wholesale trader of Khatunganj, said, "A few amounts of imported onion arrived from alternative countries of India but it is not enough to fulfil the market demand. The price will be stable when the large volume of onion will arrive by a couple of weeks."