Bangladeshi traders resumed import of onion through the Hili land port on Sunday by paying the increased price set by India considering its demand in the local market.
The importers on Saturday suspended onion import after India had increased the export price of the item to $1,150 a tonne from $900 a tonne, reports the Jaipurhat correspondent of New Age.
Bangladeshi traders imported 204 tonnes of onion on Sunday.
The importers said more than a hundred of onion-laden trucks still remained stranded on the Indian side of the Hili land port as the Indian custom officials barred them to enter Bangladesh until the new price is paid by the importers.
They added that those trucks might not be cleared soon because of the three-day general strike, starting from today, called by the opposition parties.
‘As there is a demand in the local market we will import onion at a higher price,’ said Mobarak Hossen, an importer.
On September 19, India had increased the export price of the item to $900 a tonne from $650 a tonne.
Earlier, the Indian government had raised their minimum export price from $250 a tonne to $650 a tonne when the price of the item jumped in their domestic market.
The government of India has so far increased the export price of onion four times in the last four months.
Onion importers said the government of India on Friday increased the export price of onion by $250 a tonne and the total onion import cost would now stand at Tk 90 a kg.
They also said that there was no possibility to import onion from India in three or four days as they needed time to revise the previous papers to import at the new price.
-With New Age input
