The price of beef is likely to shoot up shortly due to shortage in cow supply, say meat traders.
Beef was selling at Tk 350 to Tk 370 per kg in several kitchen markets on Saturday whereas it was Tk 280 to Tk 300 three months ago.
The price hike of beef has pushed up prices of other meat too. At the start of the year, broiler chicken sold at Tk 130 per kg, which now sells at Tk 160 to 165.
Mutton price has shot up, too. Earlier this year, a kilogram of mutton was Tk 450. Now the price is Tk 550 to Tk 600.
The chief medical officer of Dhaka North City Corporation, Brigadier General KM Masood Ahsan, told Prothom Alo he was not aware of the price hike.
"We will hold a meeting with the traders on Monday to discuss the matter," he said.
Last year, the city corporation fixed the price of beef at Tk 280 per kg and of mutton at Tk 450 per kilogram mutton for Ramadan.
According to the meat traders association, supply of cows from neighboring India has been reduced drastically. Traders fear if this continues, prices will skyrocket.
They claim the price hike has reduced the sales as well.
According to Bangladesh meat traders association, there are around 600 meat shops in the capital.
Rabiul Alam, the general secretary of the association, said a number of meat shops have closed down due to supply shortage of cows.
"The beef price increased right after India stopped exporting. We have no idea what the beef sellers will do if the government doesn't take necessary steps. We haven't suffered this sort of loss even during the endless blockade," he said.
Mohammad Mujibur Rahman, a beef trader in the city's Kawran Bazar area, said, "The market is international now. If cows were imported from India regularly, the price would have gone down."