Rice price on rise

A month ahead of the Aman harvesting season, prices of rice have gone up by Tk 1 to 3 per kg over the last one week in the capital's kitchen markets.

Yesterday, coarse rice was being sold for Tk 56 a kg, up from Tk 54 a week ago, while fine rice was selling for Tk 65-80 a kg, depending on the quality.

Wholesalers claim that rice millers in different districts are charging higher prices. Millers, however, attributed the price hike to the increased price of paddy.

Traders and experts say the price of rice is still lower than the same period of last year. The prices of paddy usually remain high ahead of the Aman harvesting season.

Wholesaler Abbas Uddin, proprietor of Abbas Enterprise at Mohammadpur Krishi Market, said they were not having enough rice from millers over the last few days on the ground that there was a dearth of paddy supply.

"Once the price of rice starts to soar, big traders try to stock up onthe staple. This results in further increase in prices."

He said a 50-kg sack of coarse rice like BR-28 and BR-29 was sold for Tk 2,550 to 2,650 yesterday, up from Tk 2,420 to 2,550 a week ago.

Prices of Miniket, Nazirshal and Guti Swarna rice have also risen by Tk 1 per kg, Abbas said.

Retailer Abu Raihan Jaglu, owner of Matlab Rice Agency at Karwan Bazar, said prices of all varieties of rice have soared by Tk 1 to 3 per kg.

"We don't know why the price is rising. We have heard that there is no shortage of supply, but still the price is going up," said Raihan.

However, there was no reflection of this price hike in the market monitoring report uploaded on the food ministry's website.

According to the website data, the wholesale price of coarse rice was Tk 44 to 47 per kg while the retail price was Tk 48 to 52 per kg at the markets in the capital on Thursday.

Anwar Hossain, proprietor of retail shop Anwar Store at Dakshin Begunbari, said he used to buy each sack of BR-28 rice for Tk 2,400 a week ago, but the price has now gone up to Tk 2,500. He now sells the rice for Tk 56 a kg, an increase by Tk 2 from last week.

Habir Mia, a 45-year-old day labourer from the capital's Mirpur-14, said he cannot buy rice from TCB trucks at subsidised price (Tk 30 per kg) for his family of six as he and his wife, a garment worker, stay away from home during the day.

Habir, a father of four, said even if the rice price increases by Tk 1 a kg, it puts pressure on their daily expenses.

Speaking to The Daily Star on Thursday, wholesalers in Dinajpur town's Bahadurbazar said millers started charging them Tk 40 to 50 extra for each 50kg rice sack a couple of days ago citing increased paddy price.

Wholesalers at Bahadurbazar and Rail Bazarhat in the district town said they bought from millers each 50kg sack of BR-28 rice for Tk 2,500 to 2,550, BR-29 Tk 2,300 to 2,350, Guti Swarna Tk 2,100 and Miniket Tk 2,800 to 2,850 a couple of days ago.

Layek Ali, general secretary of Auto Rice Mill Owners' Association, said the price of coarse rice has increased due to a shortage of paddy supply.

"But the price of fine rice has not increased that much compared to coarse rice," he said.

Most of the coarse rice produced in the country is procured by the government to provide it to different groups of people under several assistance programmes, Layek said.

"That's why there is a supply dearth of paddy ahead of the Aman harvesting season. This is the main reason behind the increase in rice price," he added.

Dr Asaduzzaman, former director of Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies, talked about another possible reason.

"People living in cities may be buying more rice now to have a stock amid fears of political unrest in the coming days. This could be a reason for the price hike," he said.