Lentil price rises again

LentilsFile photo

There is no respite from price hike at the kitchen markets. Now, the price of lentils has risen once again, just a week after it soared by around Tk 10 per kg. Noodles and garlic also witnessed a new jump in their prices.

The instability over soybean oil is yet to subside and the retailers are still selling the edible oil at prices higher than that fixed by the government. Besides, there is a crisis of one-litre bottle soybean oil, which is forcing the retailers to open five-litre bottle soybean oil and sell in loose form.

This scenario was found in different kitchen markets in the capital on Wednesday and analysing the market price chart of the trading corporation of Bangladesh (TCB).

According to TCB data, each kg of coarse lentils was selling at Tk 105 to Tk 115 in the capital on the day, when the price was Tk 105 to Tk 110 just a week back. The prices of medium and fine grained lentils are also on rise.

The price of fine grained lentils is now Tk 135 per kg, when it was Tk 130 per kg a week ago. The medium grained lentil also jumped Tk 5 within a week.

However, the market prices were found higher than the TCB chart while visiting a number of kitchen markets. The fine grained lentil was selling at Tk 140 to Tk 145 per kg at Mirpur and Moghbazar, up by Tk 5 to Tk 10 from the TCB-set price.

The retailers said they are buying lentils at Tk 130 to Tk 135 per kg and making a slight profit of Tk 5 to Tk 10 from consumers.

Jahangir Alam, a wholesaler and proprietor of Faridganj store at Karwanbazar kitchen market, said the price of lentils is rising again due to their lowered profit-margin.

“As our profit margin has decreased, it will not cover our cost if we sell lentils at a lower price,” he told Prothom Alo.

Meanwhile, the prices of noodles and pasta, two common food items in homes and restaurants, have increased due to the high price of flour. A packet of noodles, containing 12 mini-packs, sold at Tk 200 before the Eid-ul Fitr, but the price soared now to Tk 215. The companies supplied packaged noodles with new price tags on Wednesday.

A 400 gram pack of pasta, which was Tk 65 before Eid, is now selling at Tk 75 while the price of loose pasta rose by Tk 20 to Tk 120 per kg.

The local variety of garlic is now selling at Tk 120 per kg, which was at Tk 90 just a few days ago. Besides, the consumers are counting around Tk 150 to have each kg of imported garlic.

The retailers were selling a 5-litre bottle of soybean oil to many in loose form at the Kawran Bazar kitchen market on Wednesday. The method forced the consumers to pay extra as the price soared to Tk 210-215 per kg, when the fixed price was Tk 198 per kg. Even some low income people were seen buying only 200-300 grams of soybean oil at the kitchen market.