Process to Import Onion for Ramadan Yet to Kick-Off

The cycle of importing onion to keep prices steady during the Ramadan, when demand for the vital kitchen commodity increases, is yet to kick off three weeks after it was decided at a high-level meeting of government officials including ministers and representatives from business groups involved in the trade of critical commodities.

At the meeting, held on Jan 2, three business groups, as well as the government's trading arm, were urged to initiate the process to ship in onions by late February or early March as the month of Ramadan starts in the third week of April. 

Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi said at the time that they "don't want to take any risks".

"Onion prices have risen two to three times in the country within 12 hours of India's ban on imports on September 29. I will not take any risks over onion. Whatever local production stands at, imports will continue," he said.

At that meeting, former commerce minister Tofail Ahmed called three large business groups and the state-owned Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB) to import 200,000-tonne onion by early March.

"It takes at least 45 days to ship onions, and that's why we urged the TCB and business groups to start the process early," said the veteran leader of the ruling Awami League.

But three weeks into the meeting, there's no significant progress.

City Group says its consignment is expected in mid-March.

"We opened the LC [ credit letter ] to purchase another 50,000 tons from Egypt and Turkey the day after the decision [ taken at the Jan 2 meeting ]. We're expecting it by mid-March," said its general manager, Biswajit Saha, before adding that they're getting shipments meanwhile.

Meghna Group said it was still in the process of checking global prices.

"We will open an LC as soon as we lock in the lowest price. We hope to ship in it before the Ramadan," its Deputy General Manager Monowar Hossain told Bangla Tribune.

S Alam Group, however, seems to be skeptical as the local producers have already started harvesting.

"We are evaluating the supply and demand scenario as the entire local produce will be harvested by March. Our next step depends on whether there would be any demand," the group's General Manager Salaudin Ahmed told.

A spokesperson for the chief of state-owned TCB cited 'bureaucratic reasons' for not starting the process.

"We can't just implement a whim judgment. In comparison to the private sector, a state-owned company has to function in compliance with legislation, but we're contemplating it," said Humayun Kabir, personal secretary to TCB chairman Hasan Jahangir.