KARACHI: Prices of onion, a running staple food in every household, shoot up to Rs 250 per kg in the domestic retail market due to rising demand for the export purpose.

Traders told Business Recorder on Tuesday that Pakistan was importing onion from Inan and Afghanistan to meet its domestic demand, however, recently Iran has imposed some 40 percent duty on export of Onion of which import of onion from Iran to Pakistan has reduced significantly.

While on the other side, India has also imposed a ban on export for three months starting from Dec 2023 to March 2024.

Although Pakistan was not importing onion from India, but also a leading exporter, the commodity and the ban by the Indian government has increased the demand of the commodity as well as new export opportunities.

Currently, Pakistan exporters are taking full advantage of the situation by exporting onion to the Middle East and other destinations including Malaysia, Sri Lanka and UAE. The massive demand for export purposes has raised the commodity prices, which rose to Rs 250 per kg in the retail market.

The higher onion prices will further increase the kitchen cost of the already inflation-hit consumers, who are compelled to pay more price for a common vegetable item.

Markert sources said that Pakistani exporters are even buying Iranian and Kabul onion to tap the huge export demand.

Traders informed that currently, some 3-4 qualities of onions are available in the market. Onion imports from Iran and Afghanistan are available at slightly lower prices compared to domestic onions.

The situation will be improved in the coming days as a fresh crop of onion from Sindh is expected to arrive in the next few weeks, they mentioned.

Traders said that onion prices in the wholesale market range from Rs 140 to Rs 180 per kg, but the retailers are earning huge profits.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2024