Import by India pushes up onion rates in Pakistan

Rising import of onion by India has flared up prices of the commodity in Pakistan by 25-30%, which would jack up the cost of new import orders from India, traders said today.

"Because of increased import by India, the rates of onion in the domestic markets of Pakistan have also shot up in the range of 25-30%... and these new rates will have bearing on new import orders," Amritsar-based vegetable trader Rajdeep Uppal told PTI.

Vegetable traders imported onion at US$400 a tonne (around Rs18,000 a tonne) from Sindh provision in Pakistan. "The size of crop in Pakistan is also not very huge ... therefore rising demand from India has pushed up the rates, which will result in higher payment for imported onion," he said.

After the arrival of 13 truck loads (9 Tonne) of onion at Amritsar via Attari-Wagah land route yesterday, 38 trucks carrying fresh consignment of onion today entered Indian territory at Amritsar, official of the Custom Department at Amritsar said.

According to traders, close to 450 tonnes of onion has arrived from Pakistan since yesterday. The landed cost of onion from Pakistan was Rs 18-20 per kg including custom duty, cess, transportation and handling charges, he said.

Though arrival of onion from Pakistan could not rein in commodity prices in local markets of Amritsar, yet the onion from Lahore commanded lesser rates compared with Indian onion.

"Onion from Pakistan was being sold at Rs36-37 per kg in wholesale market while Indian onion was fetching Rs45-50 per kg in wholesale market," said Kailash, a vegetable merchant in Amritsar. Majority of commodity supply came from Pakistan was consumed in local market of Amritsar, traders said.

"The quality of imported onion (from Pakistan) was inferior to Indian onion, resulting into getting less prices," he said.

The prices of onions have soared to Rs70-80 per kg in retail markets in Delhi and many other important cities of the country from Rs35-40 just a few days ago.

Onion prices in various Agriculture Produce Market Committees (APMCs) in Nashik, the main trading centre for the bulb, have soared to a high of Rs7,100 per quintal.

This was due to shortfall in production following untimely rains in the growing areas of Maharashtra in November.