Why is govt trying to set a price for beef?

Business Desk :
Prohibitively high beef prices only recently started to come down below Tk 600 per kg with competition to lower prices heating up in marketplaces. The downward trend looks set to continue.

So why – consumers wonder – are efforts being made to set a new price floor, reports bdnews24.com?
They allege the price of red meat has tripled in the past decade, but no government agency has tried to find out whether sellers were raking in excess profits.

That raises the question as to why authorities are looking to set a price now amid the downturn.

They are asking that the government allow the demand and supply to stabilise so the price could drop further. But now, it seems, prices could rise once again.

Eye-watering beef prices have only started to ease. So why are consumers wary of govt attempt to set a price?
“How can they discuss setting the price at Tk 650 per kg when I can buy beef for Tk 590 at Shajahanpur Bazar?” said Jibon Ahmed, a resident of Dhaka’s Shantinagar.

These efforts started when the Directorate of National Consumers’ Right Protection began to intervene in the market. Though prices were falling, attempts were made to set the price at Tk 700-750 per kg.

“Why should there be so much manipulation?” the agency said. “The price should be stable.”

AHM Shafiquzzaman, the director general at DNCRP, said he was aware about beef traders making higher profit, but claimed that it was not under the government agency’s jurisdiction to set prices of beef weights in seer.

“They [traders] had been selling beef at Tk 750-Tk 800 for a long time, making Tk 150-Tk 200 in profits for each kg. We’ve been speaking about it for the last six months,” he said.

“Some traders have now taken steps to bring the sale prices down to Tk 595 and are also profiting from it. The consumers’ rights protection agency is trying to influence this downturn of prices by spreading the word in the market.”

Eye-watering beef prices have only started to ease.

So why are consumers wary of govt attempt to set a price?
Assuring that it was working, he said: “Now they [traders] have come up with a decision to set per kg price at Tk 650 by themselves.

We will not watch how influential that decision becomes.

I think the prices won’t stick to Tk 650, rather it will decline to around Tk 500 if we can prevent the irregularities which are being carried out for a long time.”

In 2014, the average price of beef in Dhaka was Tk 275 per kg.

It increased gradually and rose past Tk 800 per kg in many areas earlier this year.

As consumers turned away from beef for high cost, sellers began to reduce the price in the middle of the year and the rate fell to around Tk 600 in some areas.

Earlier this year, a butcher known as Kalu Koshai in Bogura’s Gabtoli, made headlines by selling Tk 580 a kg beef before Ramadan.

Eye-watering beef prices have only started to ease. So why are consumers wary of govt attempt to set a price?
In November, Jalu Koshai in Narayanganj’s Siddhirganj Chattogram Road Stand began selling beef at Tk 600 per kg, drawing the attention of the mainstream and social media.

Images of a banner reading “Khalil Meat Sales, Tk 595 per kg” at Shahjahanpur Market went viral on Facebook.
Under pressure from the competition, a wave of falling prices swept across the chief marketplaces and local shops of Dhaka.

After the price hike, the butchers complained that they were struggling to make a profit, but sales have now increased threefold in some places after the decrease in prices.

Prices, however, still vary. In some areas, the butchers are offering beef at around Tk 750 per kg.

The debate on competition in the market reached a fever pitch in November when some people started to buy at Tk 600 in one area and then selling it with a mark-up in another area.

Eye-watering beef prices have only started to ease. So why are consumers wary of govt attempt to set a price?
Abul Kashem of Mama Bhagina Meat Market in Mirpur-11 said his profit might have decreased after he began selling beef at Tk 549 per kg, but he has no regret as long as the customers are happy. “They’ll pray for me.”

Kashem said that attempts were being made to set the price at Tk 650 after considering the interests of all parties, especially those who want to make more profits.

“That’s the syndicate,” he said.

On Sunday, the DNCRP held a seminar to identify the issue with meat prices, but the traders ended up debating over quality of products.

Farmers, traders, superstore representatives, the Trade and Tariff Commission, market experts and other officials attended the seminar.