Wheat flour prices keep rising

The price of wheat flour has kept rising in the retail market of Bangladesh due to a decrease in imports amid higher costs of the staple in the global markets, handing a fresh blow to the consumers already struggling to make ends meet. 

Consumers in three markets in Dhaka had to pay Tk 65-66 for each kilogramme of loose flour on Thursday. It was Tk 55-58 last Sunday.

A two-kg packet of branded flour was selling at Tk 130-132, up from Tk 120-125.

Loose flour retailed at Tk 52 to Tk 55 per kg a month ago, while the packaged ones at Tk 58 to Tk 60, with the latter up 10.28 per cent, data from the Trading Corporation of Bangladesh showed.

"Prices have gone up in the last few days," said Riaz Hossain, a retailer in Karwan Bazar, one of the biggest kitchen markets in Dhaka.

The prices of wheat, the second-most consumed cereal after rice, have hit a record high in Bangladesh for the decline in imports and persistently higher prices in the international market.

The global wheat market has become volatile since the beginning of Russia's war in Ukraine in February as both countries are among the world's largest wheat exporters.

Local businesspeople say wheat imports have decreased in the past eight months.

Yesterday, traders in the Khatunganj wholesale market in Chattogram were selling Indian wheat at Tk 1,920 per maund (around 37 kgs), and Canadian variety at Tk 2,430.

"The prices have risen due to dwindling supply," said Razib Das, owner of Ahmedia Traders.

The prices of both Indian and Canadian wheat have climbed by Tk 50 per maund in just one week, he said.

Meghna Group of Industries bought Russian wheat at $400 per tonne recently whereas it was $300 in April, said Taslim Shahriar, senior assistant general manager of the conglomerate.

He said the opening of letters of credit has turned complicated amid the volatility in the dollar market.

Bangladesh is facing a shortage of US dollars owing to depleting foreign currency reserves, caused by escalated import bills against lower export and remittance receipts.

And Shahriar warned that there was no possibility of wheat prices going down anytime soon. 

"You will have to buy flour at a higher price in the coming days. Consumers should prepare accordingly," he said.

According to a report by the Bangladesh Trade and Tariff Commission, Bangladesh imported 33.04 lakh tonnes of wheat in the first nine months of 2022, which was 14.11 lakh tonnes less than the volume of the cereal brought in during the same period of 2021.

This is expected to have a negative impact on the wheat flour market, the report said.

Bangladesh's wheat consumption is likely to drop 10 per cent to 69 lakh tonnes in the current marketing year of 2022-23, which began in July, as higher prices and lower supply are reducing consumer demand, said the US Department of Agriculture recently.