Metropolis Desk-
On Monday, Benapole and Bhomra land ports began receiving imports of onions, which caused a Tk12–30 per kg price drop in the Jashore and Satkhira markets. Onions were selling for Tk 100 per kg on Sunday, but the price has since reduced to Tk 88–90 in Jashore markets and Tk 50–60 in Satkhira markets from Tk 80–90 per kg. The land ports of Benapole and Bhomra received a total of 4055 tons of onions this afternoon. Those have yet to be made public.
After almost three months of the import of onions being suspended, the importer from Dhaka, Zarif International, imported the shipment through Benapole for the first time.
According to Maqsood Alam Khan, general secretary of the Bhomra C&F Agents Association, 11 trucks carrying 330 tons of Indian onion arrived in the country on Monday, and another 50 to 60 truckloads are anticipated to arrive on Tuesday. Then, he continued, 100 to 150 trucks of onions will be imported daily.
The news of the import of Indian onions, according to Abdur Rahim Babu, general secretary of Sultanpur Kitchen Market Traders Association in Satkhira town, caused a decline in onion prices of Tk30 per kg. He noted that the traders who had earlier stored more onions were now suffering losses.
The delivery was handled by Benapole Royal Enterprise, whose C&F agent, Rafiqul Islam, reported that 75 tons of onions arrived Monday afternoon. The agricultural ministry has already received applications from importers for import permissions, so more onions will likely arrive soon. In response to a rise in vegetable prices, the agricultural ministry approved the import of onions on Monday. The Directorate of Agriculture Extension started approving the IP application, or permit for onion imports, on Monday.
A total of 210 IP applications were accepted on the first day, resulting in the importation of around 280,800 tons of onions. To provide fair prices for domestic growers, the government banned onion imports. As prices continued to rise, however, the strategy failed.
The government ceased issuing import permits for onions on March 15, 2017, according to Aminul Haque Anu, vice president of the Benapole Import-Exporter Association, which caused a decrease in supplies.
He predicted that prices would drop even further now that the government had approved the imports.
