The price of a kg of imported big onions at the Dambulla Economic Centre is reported to have risen by Rs. 80-100 suddenly. Accordingly, the retail price of a kg of big onions has risen to Rs. 240-260.
The big onions imported from Netherlands which sold at between Rs. 110-120 now sells at between Rs. 190-200, imported Big Onions imported from Pakistan which sold for between Rs. 110-120 has risen to Rs. 230 and Big Onions imported from Egypt which was sold for Rs. 120 has now been increased to Rs. 190.
Traders exploit the situation and increase prices
The Big Onion importers have now taken measures to import from India within the next couple of weeks and therefore, they have decided to stop the big onion imports from Pakistan and the Netherlands, according to a Big Onion wholesale trader.
The Big Onion traders had taken this measure as it takes around a month for shipments to reach Colombo from Pakistan and the Netherlands and if such orders are placed, by the time the shipments get here the Indian Big Onion stocks would have reached Sri Lanka, which could result in importers having to incur losses, he said.
As a result, the Big Onion importers have taken advantage of this situation and have increased the price of Big Onions in the market with the aim of exploitation.
(Mirror)