Minister: India not concerned about neighbour's problems

[Sehnsucht]

India does not take into account its neighbor's problems, said Agriculture Minister Dr Abdur Razzaque,expressing frustration with New Delhi's decision of stopping onion exports to Bangladesh.
“India is our neighbour.When they have a problem with any goods, they don’t care about their neighbors.
If the prices of any essential goods rise in their market,they impose taxes on exports,sometimes even ban exports,” he said.
In 2011, they (India) banned onion exports despite having a surplus
production, the minister
said, adding: "This time
they have banned exports as prices have increased in their domestic market."
The minister made the remarks speaking at an
agricultural workshop of
the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Council, at Farmgate in Dhaka on Wednesday. The Fall Army Worm, an agricultural insect pest, was the workshop topic.
Saying that the high price of onions in Bangladesh is temporary, the minister said the government is trying hard to import the
perishable food item from other countries.
As such, the ministry is importing this kitchen
essential from Egypt,
Turkey, and Myanmar, and the commerce ministry has also started conducting drives at wholesale markets to curb exploitative price gouging.
To complement these efforts at managing prices, Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB) is also selling 'fair price' onions from trucks in
urban areas, he said.
“People are having a little trouble. The media is also sensitive [on this issue]. I will say that this is not our staple food, but our primary spice. We consume this in huge quantities,” he said.
"Onion and garlic are crops that farmers have to sell in the production year as these essentials cannot be preserved for long," he added.
However, he admitted that the government had failed to properly plan for market shortages of these commodities due to a change in rainfall.
"In fact, we should have a plan ahead of the
production season. We
couldn't do it because it
started raining earlier than usual and we had some losses production. It's been raining since late March.Because of this, onion production has declined.Consequently prices are
also unusually high,” he
said.
He assured that under these circumstances,steps have been taken to import onions from abroad and that law enforcement has also been engaged to tackle the [price gouging] situation.

https://www.dhakatribune.com/bangla...ndia-not-concerned-about-neighbour-s-problems

 

[Sehnsucht]

Excessive reliance on Indian imports for any essential goods is a recipe for disaster.Good thing he realized it.

 

[PradoTLC]

reliance on indians on any thing is a disaster.

 

[Max]

import from Pakistan.

 

[SirHatesALot]

import from Pakistan.

too costly

Excessive reliance on Indian imports for any essential goods is a recipe for disaster.Good thing he realized it.

we already have a shortfall prices have increased 40% here thats why exports are stopped

 

[Max]

too costly

what is the international price and what is price of Pakistani onion?

 

[Haris Ali2140]

what is the international price and what is price of Pakistani onion?

Pakistan is 2000 kms away. Shipping costs will increase price as compared to India.

 

[Bilal9]

Pakistan is 2000 kms away. Shipping costs will increase price as compared to India.

I doubt that. Indian onions are trucked to Bangladesh which is very expensive (ground freight).

Ocean freight is way cheaper from Pakistan. Even via Colombo.

Bangladesh minister was talking about importing Onions from Iran and Turkey recently. Pakistan is entirely feasible as an onion source.

Most of the better non-tropical fruit (Apples, Tangerines, Peaches) used to come from Pakistan. Don't know if it is still handled that way.

 

[Avicenna]

Excessive reliance on Indian imports for any essential goods is a recipe for disaster.Good thing he realized it.

All it took were onions.

Ha!

 

[Bilal9]

Onion prices soar in Asia as India restricts exports
Reuters

• Published at 03:19 pm October 2nd, 2019

A vendor reads newspaper as he waits for customers at a wholesale onion market in Kolkata, India, November 21, 2016 Reuters

India exported 2.2 million tons of fresh onions in the 2018/19 fiscal year ended March 31

From Kathmandu to Colombo, it's a kitchen nightmare: Onion prices have gone crazy.

That's because India, the world's biggest seller of the Asian diet staple, has banned exports after extended Monsoon downpours delayed harvests and supplies shrivelled. And dedicated buyers across the region, like Nepalese housewife Seema Pokharel, are flummoxed.

"This is a terrible increase," said Pokharel, out shopping for vegetables in Kathmandu. "Onion prices have more than doubled in the last month alone."

Whether it's Pakistani chicken curry, Bangladeshi biryani or Indian sambar, Asian consumers have developed a serious dependence on Indian onion supplies for go-to dishes. Shorter shipment times than from rival exporters like China or Egypt play a crucial role in preserving the taste of the perishable commodity.

But last Sunday New Delhi banned all exports from India after local prices jumped to $63.30 per 100 kg, their highest in nearly six years, due to the delay in summer-sown crop arrivals triggered by longer, heavier rains than usual.

Since the ban, countries such as Bangladesh have turned to the likes of Myanmar, Egypt, Turkey and China to increase supplies in a bid bring prices down, government officials and traders said.

But the hefty volumes lost will be hard to replace.

India exported 2.2 million tons of fresh onions in the 2018/19 fiscal year ended March 31, according to data from India's Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority. That's more than half of all imports by Asian countries, traders estimate.

'Taking advantage’

Rising prices of alternative supplies will add to the headache for importers trying to get the vegetable from elsewhere, said Mohammad Idris, a trader based in Dhaka. In the Bangladesh capital, consumers are now being asked to pay $1.42 per kilogram for their prized onions - twice the price a fortnight ago and the highest since December, 2013.

"Prices are going up elsewhere in Asia and Europe," said Idris. "Other exporting countries are taking advantage of the Indian ban" to raise their asking price.

In response to the crisis, the government of Bangladesh has initiated sales of subsidised onions through the state-run Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB).

"We are looking for all possible options to import onions. Our target is to import in the shortest possible time," said TCB spokesman Humayun Kabir.

But the shipments from elsewhere - Iran and Turkey are also potential suppliers - that authorities in countries across the region are investigating will all take time.

"It takes one month when it comes from Egypt and about 25 days from China, while it takes only a few days from India," said Dhaka trader Idris.

The need for alternative imports is so severe, though, that countries like Sri Lanka have already placed orders with Egypt and China, said G Rajendran, president of the Essential Food Commodities, Importers and Traders Association.

Onion prices in Sri Lanka have risen by 50% in a week, to $1.7 per kilogram.

'Double the price’

For other countries, there may be little option but to sit tight and hope for the best.

Malaysia, the second-biggest buyer of Indian onions, expects the ban to be temporary and sees no reason to panic, said Sim Tze Tzin, deputy minister of agriculture.

But even India has been importing onions from Egypt in an effort to calm prices. And there won't be any meaningful drop in prices before summer-sown crops start to hit the market, said Ajit Shah, president of the Mumbai-based Onion Exporters' Association.

That's not expected until mid-November, meaning the export ban isn't going away in the near term.

"India could resume exports once prices drop, but it will take time," said Shah. "Until India resumes exports, supplies will remain limited in Asia."

For now, consumers like Kathmandu shopper Pokharel are having to change habits across Asia.

"I went to buy 5 kilograms of onions for our five-member family but ended up buying only 3 kilograms due to higher prices," said Afroza Mimi, a Dhaka housewife on a shopping expedition the day after India imposed the export ban.

"They (traders) are selling old stock nearly at double the price. This is crazy."

 

[Baby Leone]

i think its normal as trading is not charity business every country have right to look for their own people....what bangalis are expecting? i guess these AL govt have too much unrealistic expectations from india.

di

Onion prices soar in Asia as India restricts exports
Reuters

• Published at 03:19 pm October 2nd, 2019

A vendor reads newspaper as he waits for customers at a wholesale onion market in Kolkata, India, November 21, 2016 Reuters

India exported 2.2 million tons of fresh onions in the 2018/19 fiscal year ended March 31

From Kathmandu to Colombo, it's a kitchen nightmare: Onion prices have gone crazy.

That's because India, the world's biggest seller of the Asian diet staple, has banned exports after extended Monsoon downpours delayed harvests and supplies shrivelled. And dedicated buyers across the region, like Nepalese housewife Seema Pokharel, are flummoxed.

"This is a terrible increase," said Pokharel, out shopping for vegetables in Kathmandu. "Onion prices have more than doubled in the last month alone."

Whether it's Pakistani chicken curry, Bangladeshi biryani or Indian sambar, Asian consumers have developed a serious dependence on Indian onion supplies for go-to dishes. Shorter shipment times than from rival exporters like China or Egypt play a crucial role in preserving the taste of the perishable commodity.

But last Sunday New Delhi banned all exports from India after local prices jumped to $63.30 per 100 kg, their highest in nearly six years, due to the delay in summer-sown crop arrivals triggered by longer, heavier rains than usual.

Since the ban, countries such as Bangladesh have turned to the likes of Myanmar, Egypt, Turkey and China to increase supplies in a bid bring prices down, government officials and traders said.

But the hefty volumes lost will be hard to replace.

India exported 2.2 million tons of fresh onions in the 2018/19 fiscal year ended March 31, according to data from India's Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority. That's more than half of all imports by Asian countries, traders estimate.

'Taking advantage’

Rising prices of alternative supplies will add to the headache for importers trying to get the vegetable from elsewhere, said Mohammad Idris, a trader based in Dhaka. In the Bangladesh capital, consumers are now being asked to pay $1.42 per kilogram for their prized onions - twice the price a fortnight ago and the highest since December, 2013.

"Prices are going up elsewhere in Asia and Europe," said Idris. "Other exporting countries are taking advantage of the Indian ban" to raise their asking price.

In response to the crisis, the government of Bangladesh has initiated sales of subsidised onions through the state-run Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB).

"We are looking for all possible options to import onions. Our target is to import in the shortest possible time," said TCB spokesman Humayun Kabir.

But the shipments from elsewhere - Iran and Turkey are also potential suppliers - that authorities in countries across the region are investigating will all take time.

"It takes one month when it comes from Egypt and about 25 days from China, while it takes only a few days from India," said Dhaka trader Idris.

The need for alternative imports is so severe, though, that countries like Sri Lanka have already placed orders with Egypt and China, said G Rajendran, president of the Essential Food Commodities, Importers and Traders Association.

Onion prices in Sri Lanka have risen by 50% in a week, to $1.7 per kilogram.

'Double the price’

For other countries, there may be little option but to sit tight and hope for the best.

Malaysia, the second-biggest buyer of Indian onions, expects the ban to be temporary and sees no reason to panic, said Sim Tze Tzin, deputy minister of agriculture.

But even India has been importing onions from Egypt in an effort to calm prices. And there won't be any meaningful drop in prices before summer-sown crops start to hit the market, said Ajit Shah, president of the Mumbai-based Onion Exporters' Association.

That's not expected until mid-November, meaning the export ban isn't going away in the near term.

"India could resume exports once prices drop, but it will take time," said Shah. "Until India resumes exports, supplies will remain limited in Asia."

For now, consumers like Kathmandu shopper Pokharel are having to change habits across Asia.

"I went to buy 5 kilograms of onions for our five-member family but ended up buying only 3 kilograms due to higher prices," said Afroza Mimi, a Dhaka housewife on a shopping expedition the day after India imposed the export ban.

"They (traders) are selling old stock nearly at double the price. This is crazy."

dont effect Pakistan alot as Pakistan dont depends on India for a single thing not even onion.