Egg Price Hike: Shady traders made crores of taka in a week

Dishonest traders pocketed crores of taka within a week by sending the egg price to an unprecedented level on the pretext of low production, inclement weather, and supply chain disruptions, said the chief of consumer rights watchdog.

At a meeting with stakeholders of poultry industry yesterday, AHM Shafiquzzaman, director general of the Directorate of National Consumers Right Protection (DNCRP), said businesses on different occasions claimed that Bangladesh requires 4 crore eggs a day.

The price of 4 crore eggs was Tk 48 crore on August 5 when an egg was selling for Tk 12. Prices began to rise the next day and consumers had to buy an egg for Tk 13 at that time.

Egg price went up further and hit Tk 15, highest on record, on August 12.

The consumer rights directorate launched drives against abnormal profiteering that day and the price dropped the next day.

Yesterday, retail price of egg was Tk 159-Tk 165 per dozen or Tk 13.5 per piece, according to the state-run Trading Corporation of Bangladesh.

Shafiquzzaman said if Tk 1 profit is made additionally from each egg, unscrupulous traders have made a profit of Tk 4 crore on a single day. If Tk 2 is charged extra per egg, the amount of profit becomes Tk 8 crore, he said.

"Now you calculate the amount of profit the dishonest traders have made out of recent price spike of eggs," he told the businessmen at the meeting at the DNCRP office in the capital.

"This money has been taken from the consumers' pockets in the last few days," he added.

The comment by the DNCRP chief comes a day after Fisheries and Livestock Minister SM Rezaul Karim said price of an egg should not be more than Tk 12 at retail.

On Sunday, the minister told reporters at his office that it costs Tk 10.50 to produce an egg. If the price is fixed at Tk 12, stakeholders in the entire egg supply chain will get benefits.

"The declaration of egg price by the fisheries and livestock ministry will help us monitor the market," said Shafiquzzaman.

Mahbubur Rahman, the general secretary of the Breeders Association of Bangladesh, said eggs reach consumers after changing four hands.

"If we all work together in this sector, it will be possible to do business maintaining discipline," he said.

Hafizur Rahman, member of Bangladesh Competition Commission, said the hike in egg price this time has reached such a level that is unexpected. When it comes to egg sales, the auction process is not open to everyone, which is a flaw.