Flour now goes dear

This time, flour of all types has witnessed a hike in price in the past three days only to hit consumers already battered by rocketing onion and rice prices.

Packet atta (coarse flour) of different brands retailed at Tk 36-38 a kilogram on Saturday, which was selling at Tk 34-35 earlier.

Sources said flour went up in price at a time when global wheat prices have been almost static at $199-206 per tonne for the past six months.

The prices of both packet and loose atta have increased by Tk 3.0-5.0 a kg. Loose atta was priced at Tk 32-35 from Tk 27-30 earlier.

Meanwhile, loose maida (refined flour) sold at Tk 39-42 a kg on Saturday from Tk 35-36 earlier.

The state-run Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB) has recorded a 7.0-12.5-per cent hike in flour prices during the period under review.

Packet maida of different brands was selling at Tk 46-48 a kg and Tk 92 a two-kilogram pack on the day at an earlier rate.

But grocers hinted a rise in the prices of packet maida after they get newer packets from companies.

"We're selling old maida packets. Sales executives of different companies said price might rise with newer packs," said grocer Abul Kalam at Katasur, Mohammadpur.

He said all the companies, including City Group (Teer brand), Meghna (Fresh), Bashundhara and ACI, have raised prices of their products.

"We bought loose atta at Tk 1,050-1,080 per maund wholesale from Moulvibazar seven days ago. It has jumped to Tk 1,220-1,250 between Friday and Saturday."

Loose maida prices increased to Tk 1,380 per maund on Saturday from Tk 1,250 a few days back.

Asked, City Group director Biswajit Saha said a shortage of Canadian and American wheat varieties in Bangladesh have caused a hike in flour prices.

The prices of North American wheat, suitable for flour, has increased to above $280 a tonne in recent months, forcing companies to adjust prices, he told the FE.

Department of Agricultural Marketing asst director Touhid Mohammad Rashed Khan said wheat prices globally have remained almost static in the past six months until October.

Wheat output in major countries, including Canada and the US has shown an upturn this year, he added.

Mr Khan said the government should scrutinise this sudden surge in flour prices here as it would hit hard the people on low incomes directly.

According to the global commodity web portal Index Mundi, wheat prices were hovering between $199 and $206 a tonne during the April-October period.

According to food ministry, private companies have so far brought in 2.169 million tonnes of wheat in the current fiscal year.

The annual domestic demand for wheat is more than 6.0 million tonnes.

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