Onion imports resume thru Hili land port

Onion imports through Hili land port in Dinajpur resumed on Tuesday after being halted for four days due to a software glitch in Indian customs.

The Indian customs had implemented an updated tariff regime at 4:45pm that day, reducing the export duty on onions from 40 percent to 20 percent.

The move came after India removed its minimum export price for onions on Friday, thereby enabling Bangladesh to buy the crop at lower rates.

And once the necessary import procedures and tariff payments were completed, onions from neighbouring India started arriving at Hili land port from 5:30pm on Tuesday.

Mamunur Rashid, an onion trader at Hili land port, said import orders placed before the four-day hiatus were also delayed as the Indian customs could not implement the reduced tariffs due to a server issue.

Rashid also said the reduced tariff will not have any significant impact on onion prices in local markets as the vegetable is still being purchased at high rates from India.

"But if onion prices in India decrease in the coming days, then larger imports may lead to lower prices in Bangladesh," he added.

Imported onions are currently expected to cost between Tk 80 and Tk 85 per kilogramme.

During a visit to Bahadur Bazar in Dinajpur yesterday, it was seen that locally grown onions are selling for Tk 120 to Tk 130 per kilogramme. Meanwhile, Indian onions were selling at Tk 90 to Tk 95 per kilogramme, down from Tk 110 the previous day.

India had set a minimum export price for onions at $800 per tonne on October 28 last year in a bid to discourage outgoing shipments and thereby increase local supply.

Citing production disruptions due to floods, India's Director General of Foreign Trade Santosh Kumar had previously announced a four-month onion export ban from December 7, 2023 to March 31, 2024.

The ban was later extended indefinitely on March 23 before being lifted on May 4, when India imposed a 40 percent export duty that affected the supply and price of onions in Bangladesh.