Fuel price hikes up costs of necessities

Fuel price hike has started to hike up the prices of groceries in local markets. The prices of everyday groceries like rice, coarse flour, flour, eggs, onion, ginger and sugar has increased once again.

On Monday, the price of all rice breeds increased by Tk one or two per kg in various wholesale and local markets in the capital. In some local neighbourhood grocery shops, the sellers were asking for Tk one-two more per a kg of rice.

The price of loose coarse flour has increased by Tk two-three a kg. The company representatives of packaged coarse flour sellers have already informed the grocers that they will also hike their prices.

In the local market, coarse rice (Swarna) is being sold at Tk 51 a kg. Even a couple of days ago, its price was Tk 49-50 a kg. The Paijam variety of rice is being sold at Tk 52-54 a kg. BR28 is being sold at Tk 54-56 a kg. The price of Paijam and BR28 variety has increased by Tk two each.

The price of fine rice and Chinigura rice has increased the most. The price of Miniket rice ranges from Tk 68-72 a kg. Three days back, its price ranged from Tk 66-68 a kg. Najirshail rice was being sold at Tk 75-78 a kg. The price of Chinigura has increased by Tk 3-4 a kg. Loose chinigura rice is priced at Tk 114-116 in local markets.

The sellers say that the hike in transportation costs have affected the price of rice. Selim Uddin from Selim Traders in New Market told Prothom Alo, after fluctuating for months, the price of rice was finally steady for a few weeks. But now due to the rise in fuel prices, transportation costs have spiked. For this, the price of nearly every variety of rice has increased by Tk two per kg. If the cost of production increases in the mills, they might also hike up the prices. That could increase the prices in the rice market once again.

The Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB) updates the price of groceries every day. TCB’s price list on Monday showed that the prices of 10 products, which included rice, coarse flour, egg, sugar and broiler chicken has increased.

According to the TCB list, the price of Paijam rice has increased by Tk two a kg. A week ago, it was being sold at Tk 50-56 a kg. Now it’s priced at Tk 52-58 a kg. The price of coarse flour has increased by Tk two-three a kg and the current price is Tk 42-45 a kg.

The price of broiler chicken has spiked by Tk 15-20 a kg and the price of sugar has increased by Tk two per kg. Four eggs are being sold at Tk 40-44, which is Tk two more than before.

In a number of local markets in the capital, a kg of broiler chicken was priced at Tk 170-180. Two-three days back, its price was Tk 140-150. A set of 12 eggs are being sold at Tk 135-140. At some places, it’s costing the buyers Tk 145. Loose coarse wheat was Tk 41-42 a kg, now it’s being sold at Tk 44-45 a kg. The price of ginger, onion and garlic has increased by Tk 5-10.

Owing to the fuel price hike, the traders now have to spend Tk one-four thousand more per truck to transport their goods from different parts of the country to Karwan Bazar in Dhaka. The transportation costs have increased by nearly 20-25 per cent.

According to the traders, a 3-tonne truck could transport 15,000kg rice. As per this information, the traders are now spending Tk 0.27 extra to transport a kg of rice. But in the wholesale and local markets in Dhaka, the price of rice has increased much more. Due to the extra transport costs, the prices of other groceries have also increased.

On Friday night, the price of diesel and kerosene oil was increased by Tk 34 per litre, and the price of petrol and octane was spiked by Tk 44 and Tk 46 per litre respectively. After the record hike in fuel price, the truck fare also increased. The masses are bearing the brunt of this price hike.