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Prices of onion stayed at their previous highs on Friday despite the arrival of imported spice in the market, according to traders and consumers.
Visiting city kitchen markets, this correspondent found onion of local variety was selling at Tk 190- 200 while those of China, Turkey and Myanmar were between Tk 130- Tk 170 a kilogramme.
Retail traders at Karwan Bazar told the FE that the price of locally produced key cooking ingredient remained high due to short supply.
Visiting the Shyambazar wholesale market, the FE correspondent found onion of local varieties sold at Tk 170-180 a kg depending on quality and varieties imported from Egypt, China and Myanmar at Tk 130- 150 a kg.
Traders said price will come down when the new harvest of local onion hits the markets.
Local variety of onion sold at Tk 170-180 a kg on Thursday.
Imported Burmese, Egyptian and Chinese varieties sold at Tk 140-150, and Tk 100-120 a kg respectively at the retail level in the kitchen markets on Thursday last.
Onion was traded at around Tk 250 a kg, depending on variety and quality at the retail level a few days ago due to supply crunch.
The prices of the spice soared abnormally in the wake of export ban by the neighbouring India, imposed on September 29, as well as the recent cyclone Bulbul that damaged the crop in many areas of the country.
After the price spike, the government and private importers took initiatives for importing onion from Egypt, Turkey, China and Myanmar to meet the local demand.
Meanwhile, prices of rice and winter vegetables were also stubbornly high in the city's kitchen markets.
Najirshail and minicate varieties of rice depending on their qualities sold at Tk 60- 65 and Tk 55- 58 respectively in the retail market in the city.
Coarse variety rice was selling at Tk 35-38.
Food minister Sadhan Chandra Majumder last week said that there was no reason for the traders to push up the prices of rice.
Consumers at the kitchen markets called upon the government to check the prices of onion and rice.
"We urge the government to control the prices of essential commodities, especially onion and rice, considering the interest of the fixed-income groups," Md Salahuddin, a private service holder, told the FE.
Winter vegetables were selling at high prices despite arrival of new varieties.
Tomato sold at Tk 120- 140 a kg while bean at Tk 50- 60, carrot at Tk 80- 90 a kg.
A lower medium size of cauliflower and cabbage were selling at Tk 35-40 and Tk 30- 35 respectively.