According to the Chittagong Plant Quarantine Station (Sea Port) of Department of Agricultural Extension, IPs were issued for the importation 106,231 tons of onions from October 12 till December 17. Importers brought in 25,866 tons of onions in last two months against the import permits (IPs) issued over the same period to bring in 106,231 tons of the produce. Ashaduzzaman Bulbul, deputy director at the Chittagong Plant Quarantine Station , confirmed this. (An importer is required to take import permit (IP) from Plant Quarantine Station before opening an LC for importing any agricultural products.)
Of this, 7,097 tons of onion were imported from Egypt, 6,891 tons from China, 1,228 tons from Myanmar, 8,551 tons from Turkey, 553 tons from the UAE, 1,121 tons from Pakistan, and 425 tons from Sri Lanka.
According to information¸ this week, onions imported from China and Turkey were selling at Tk80 and Tk60 per kg, respectively, in the retail markets; onions imported from Egypt, Pakistan, and Myanmar were selling at Tk120, Tk160 and Tk150 per kg respectively.
High demand for the onions from Turkey
Meanwhile, Turkish onions also beat those from Egypt in Tamil Nadu, India. While the Egyptian onions were left untouched, there is high demand for the onions from Turkey that arrived in Tiruchy. All of the 20 tons of Turkish onions was sold out on Wednesday. Overwhelmed by the response, traders are likely to place orders for another 20 tons of Turkish onions by the end of the week.
[ Tk100 = €1.10 ]
