Rice prices drop slightly; veggies, soybean oil costlier

Staff Reporter :

While rice prices have declined slightly in the past week, prices of certain vegetables and loose soybean oil have continued to rise in the city markets.

The prices of other essential commodities have remained static at their previous highs, according to market sources.

The arrival of newly harvested BRRI rice 28 and Jeerashail (Miniket) in the ongoing Boro season has contributed to the downward trend in rice prices.

BRRI rice 28 is currently retailing at Tk 66-68 a kg, while the finer quality Jeerashail is being sold at Tk 75-85 a kg – marking a decrease of Tk 5.0 a kg over the week, according to grocers.

Mohasin Paramanik, a grocer at Sher-e-Bangla Road in the capital, said that the wholesale prices of rice at Mohammadpur Krishi Market have dropped by Tk 150-200 a sack in last one and a half weeks. However, the supply of coarse rice remains limited, keeping its retail price static at Tk 58-60 a kg in the city.

The Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) reported that the Boro harvest is currently at its peak, with over 50 per cent of the harvest already completed.
The DAE is expecting a bumper production of around 22 million tonnes of rice in this Boro season.

Meanwhile, prices of vegetables, such as tomato, carrot, and papaya, have risen further, selling at Tk 80-90 a kg, with a weekly increase of Tk 10-20 a kg.

Other vegetables like colocasia stem, teasel gourd, and long-yard beans remained steady at Tk 80-90 a kg, while eddo (kochu) was priced at Tk 100-120 a kg as of Thursday.
Loose soybean oil prices surged to Tk 180-182 a litre in the kitchen markets, marking a Tk 4.0-5.0 increase a litre over the week, according to vendors.

However, prices of beef, chicken, eggs, fish, and onions have remained unchanged, maintaining their previous highs across groceries and kitchen markets in the capital.