Across Bangladesh, potato prices – along with those of many other food items - have soared to levels that cannot be rationally explained given the fairly good harvest and a lack of any visible supply-chain constraint. Suspicions are that business syndicates are taking the consumer for a ride. The government, of late, has taken a move to collect information on potatoes' stock record from the private cold-storage facilities all over the country.
Now, the COMMERCE MINISTRY has instructed the Bangladesh Cold-Storage Association to provide stock records for the last three years from 2021 to 2023. The purpose of such a move is understandably to find out whether sufficient quantities of potatoes have been released from the cold-storages to meet market demand. This may lend a picture if it is in short supply, in other words hoarding, that is causing the price spiral.
Source: thefinancialexpress.com.bd