Egg supplies take a hit

The Tejgaon Egg Merchants’ Association, which accounts for around 15 percent of the daily supply of 1 crore eggs in the capital, stopped sales from Sunday night claiming it was to avoid harassment by the government authorities.
A large number of egg wholesalers in Chattogram city’s Pahartali bazar also halted sales yesterday afternoon citing the same reason.
Wholesalers in both cities claim that they purchase eggs at prices above the government’s set rate, yet they are frequently fined by The Directorate of National Consumer Rights Protection (DNCRP) for selling eggs at prices higher than that fixed by the government.
Mohammad Amanat Ullah, president of the Tejgaon Egg Merchants’ Association, said they cannot sell eggs at the government’s fixed prices because their costs are higher. “The government should increase the prices.”
Denying the presence of any trading syndicate, he told The Daily Star that while Dhaka city has a daily demand of 1 crore eggs, they only supply 14 to 15 lakh.
He said that they will hold a meeting with the DNCRP today to address the problem.
On September 15, the Department of Agricultural Marketing (DAM) announced that retailers will sell each dozen of eggs at Tk 142, meaning the price of an egg will be Tk 11.83.
However, eggs were sold for Tk 15.83 each in the capital’s Tejturi Bazar area yesterday. Data of the Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB) showed that eggs were sold for Tk 14.75 each.
Hotel manager Rajib Islam visits Tejgaon from Segun Bagicha to buy eggs every day. There is a daily demand for 300 eggs in his hotel.
Speaking to this newspaper last evening, he said, “I found that all wholesale shops in Tejgaon were closed. I bought 100 eggs from a retail shop in the same area.
“I had to buy eggs at a much higher price today (yesterday).”
Visiting the Tejgaon wholesale market yesterday evening, The Daily Star saw that 10-12 customers were leaving the area due to the closure of the wholesale shops. No retailers were selling eggs in the wholesale market area.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, an employee of Alamgir Traders, an egg wholesaler in Tejgaon, said that they did not buy eggs for the last two days.
They collect eggs mainly from Sakhipur of Tangail, and Bhaluka of Mymensingh.
“We sell 60,000 eggs every day. We could not supply eggs over the last two days despite the demand from buyers. That’s why it is becoming difficult for us to maintain a business relationship with them,” he said.
However, a source in Tejgaon Egg Merchants’ Association said that some wholesalers are collecting eggs for their regular customers and sending eggs directly to them to sustain the business relationship.