Pricey onions bring tears again

After showing signs of easing, onion prices are once more causing tears to consumers. This commonly consumed vegetable has become much dearer than the previous time, with the rates of best variety now scrapping past the record Rs 50 level. Traders expect the situation to continue for another 15 days at least.

Over a fortnight ago, onion prices had eased to Rs 30-35 per kg on fresh arrivals from different centres. It was expected that the rates would cool down further. However, a sudden upturn has been seen instead, say traders.

Onions were auctioned at Rs 1800 a mann (measure of 40kg) at the Kalamna agriculture produce marketing yard. This translates into Rs 45 a kg in the wholesale market itself. At the retail counters, it easily goes up to Rs 55, said an onion trader. This is for the best quality, thought.

The moderate variety is rated at Rs 30 a kg in the bulk market, while the lowest grade fetches around Rs 25. This is much against the earlier expectations of the overall rates being in the range of Rs 25-30 in the coming days. "Supplies have suddenly dwindled in the market, which has led to the sudden hike in the prices," said a trader at Kalamna.

Mohammed Afzal of Afzal Trading at Kalamna told that the supplies from centres in Maharashtra have come down to almost negligible levels. "Had it not been supplies from Gujarat, the situation could have been worse. Around 10 trucks of around 16 tonne each are arriving from Gujarat, which are holding the prices at the current level," said Afzal.

However, apart from low supplies, nervous traders putting deals on hold is also one of the reasons. They had already booked losses on onion selling at below their purchase price as the rates had begun easing. To avoid more losses, a large quantity of deals were put on hold. This led to supplies dwindling considerably, a trader added.

Currently, the market will be have to depend on the Gujarat crop with the second round of arrivals from Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh starting from March onwards, added a trader.

Meanwhile, on the brighter side, rates of other vegetables have gone down considerably due to a favourable weather areas around the city. Tomatoes which were dubbed as the other onion after getting as costly as Rs 40 per kg, are now available at half the rates, said Naresh Bawankule, a wholesale vendor. "The prices of other vegetables have reduced too and a further fall is expected in the coming days," he added.

Eggs, however, continue to rule high at Rs 48 a dozen.

Garlic prices which had also caused a panic in the market after touching Rs 300 a kg have eased to Rs 125 to 200 a kg.