Rice prices soar to two-year highPanic buying grips Dhaka

NEWS DESK

Sales at superstores surged by 30 percent while grocery shop sales doubled just in a week amid coronavirus outbreak.

Grocers and officials of super shops said panicked buyers have been rushing to stock up grocery items. The rush has put the supply in a sudden squeeze, hiking prices of rice, lentil, flour, egg, soybean oil, onion, garlic, meat and fish, soap and liquid hand wash.

Rice is on top of the list of such panic buying. Rice prices Friday soared to two-year high. Coarse variety of rice was selling at Tk 50 a kilogram in Dhaka city markets.

Traders have attributed this escalation to panic buying by city dwellers, fearing possible lockdowns.

Rice prices hit an all-time high in September 2017 when coarse rice prices reached Tk 55-57 a kg.

The Trading Corporation of Bangladesh has recorded 10 to 31-percent hike in rice prices in the past three days.

Coarse rice increased in value to Tk 45-50 a kg, medium variety to Tk 50-56 and finer ones to Tk 60-70 --Tk 3.0-Tk 4.0 hike in a day.

Jaber Hossain, a grocer in Akhra Mandir area in Rayerbazar, accused wholesalers at Mohammadpur Krishi Market, Babubazar, Badamtoli of raising prices despite having a huge stock.

"I bought 'Guti Swarna' rice (a coarse variety) at Tk 43.5 a kg today from Mohammadpur Krishi Market which was Tk 36.5 five days back," he said.

Mr Hossain said higher- and middle-income customers are responsible for such a hike as they are purchasing rice and other essentials in large volume.

Badamtoli-based trader Mohammad Asadullah said everyone is now busy buying rice for one to three months.

Millers have raised prices overnight following the rising demand, he added.

Mr Asad said prices of seasonal Swarna have been raised by Tk 250-260 per sack (50 kg) by millers in the past three days.

Finer-variety Miniket prices jumped to Tk 2,800-2,900 per sack at mill gates from Tk 2600-2650 a few days ago.

Consumers Association of Bangladesh (CAB) secretary Humayun Kabir Bhuiyan likened this price hike to 'the rubbing of salt into the wound' of the commoners.

He said both city wholesales and mill gates should be brought under close monitoring by government agencies to avoid such an artificial hike.

There is no scarcity of rice, onion and other essentials for now. So, it is imperative to keep prices within the reach of commoners in such a critical time.

According to the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS), the country produced an all-time high of 37.2 million tonnes of rice in fiscal year 2018-19.

Aman harvesting season ended in January and the government is expecting 14.5-million tonnes of rice.

The state warehouses have also a handsome stock of 1.5-million tonnes.

Visiting some kitchen markets on Friday, the FT Team found four pieces of lemon selling at the record Tk 45-60, according to vendors.

Though it is a peak potato harvesting season, prices of the carbohydrate-rich vegetable shot up by Tk 6-7 a kg as sold at Tk 25-35, depending on varieties.

Local garlic prices hit Tk 120-140 a kg which was Tk 60-80 only three days back. Imported garlic prices increased to Tk 180-200 from Tk 160-180 a kg.

Ginger also shot up in price by Tk 20 a kg as sold at Tk 150-190 a kg, depending on quality.

Pulses, especially lentil, further rose in value by Tk 10 a kg.

Loose soybean prices shot up to Tk 94-96 a litre from Tk 88-90 a litre earlier. Palm oil prices also witnessed Tk 2.0-3.0 hike at per litre.

The price of egg soared to Tk108 from Tk95 per dozen, while onion's price hiked to Tk60 from Tk45-50 per kg. Flour price rose by Tk2-4 per kilogram, while beef saw a jump of Tk40-50 to Tk570-580 per kilogram.

Abdur Razzak, a grocer in Dhaka's Rampura area, said he used to sell items worth Tk12,000-15,000 a day. Now his sales have jumped to Tk25,000 a day in the last couple of days.

People who used to buy 4-5kg rice a week have been buying 50-100kg now. They are purchasing 5-10kg onion although they would buy highest 2kg previously. As a result, the stock is running out quickly," he said.

number of grocers at different parts of the capital echoed Razzak. Super shops were also facing the rush of customers.

"We have been wrestling with the pressure for the last couple of days," a number of salespersons at different superstores said.

The ACI Limited's retail chain Shwapno said their sales of grocery items rose by 25 to 30 percent in the last week.

Executive Director of ACI Logistics Ltd (Shwapno) Sabbir Hasan Nasir said, "We are continuously refilling the shelves as stocks are running out quickly."

The scenario at Meena Bazar, a concern of the Gemcon Group, was also the same. Its CEO Shaheen Khan said they were also experiencing heightened demand for grocery items.

"We did not increase the prices as the demand-supply gap is temporary. However, many grocers are exploiting the situation by hiking prices," he added.

DNCRP conducts anti-overpricing drives

The Directorate of National Consumer Rights Protection (DNCRP) on Thursday and Friday conducted drives against sellers for overcharging customers.

DNCRP teams fined a number of rice sellers for overpricing.

The teams warned customers and traders against overpricing and hoarding through loudhailer in the morning.

A shop in the Gulshan DCC Market was shut down temporarily as it overcharged Tk500 for a dairy product.

Seven DNCRP teams are monitoring the wholesale and retail markets in the capital.

The teams conducted drives at 12 kitchen markets on Thursday and Friday, said Manjur Mohammad Shahriar, deputy director (Dhaka division) of the DNCRP.