The price of eggs and chicken has skyrocketed in recent days allegedly due to the manipulation of the market by a syndicate of unscrupulous traders, dealing a knockout blow to already struggling people.

The price of farm eggs has increased by Tk20-30 per dozen and that of Soanli chicken by Tk20-30 per kg in a week in the capital due to the market volatility created by the syndicate, insiders said.

Farm egg and chicken are the budget-friendly source of protein for the lower and middle-income group. However, they are now struggling to keep them on the menu as the price hike has eroded their purchasing power.

A syndicate of egg traders centring on Tejgaon, Kaptanbazar and Savar in Dhaka, Pahartali in Chattogram and Kishoreganj hoarded eggs in recent weeks when the price was relatively low.

They are now selling the eggs at a much higher price after creating an artificial crisis, said Sumon Hawladar, president of the Bangladesh Poultry Association (BPA).

The syndicate is fixing the egg price and circulating it on different Facebook pages and other social media groups followed by egg traders across the country, he said, adding that the syndicate increased the wholesale price of farm eggs by Tk30, Tk50, Tk50, Tk10 and Tk20 per 100 pieces on 3,4,5,8 and 9 May respectively.

This has deprived the marginal farmers of fair prices for their produce while consumers have to pay more, Sumon said.

Visiting different kitchen markets at Mirpur, Shewrapara and Mohammadpur in the capital on Friday, it was seen that farm eggs were selling at Tk140-150 per dozen against last week’s Tk120. The price was Tk135-140 per dozen even two days ago.

The price of Sonali chicken has jumped to Tk420 per kg from Tk380-400. However, broiler chicken was retailing at last week’s price of Tk220 per kg.

The price of Sonali chicken was Tk370-380 per kg and that of broiler chicken Tk200 per kg two weeks ago. They were retailing at Tk320-340 and Tk190 per kg respectively one and a half months ago.

On 9 May, the Directorate of National Consumers’ Right Protection (DNCRP) found 14 lakh eggs hoarded in a cold storage in Narsingdi.

During the drive, Sadar upazila DNCPR Assistant Director Mahmudur Rahman found that traders of different districts stockpiled over 14 lakh eggs in the cold storage for about 20 days to one month.

After talking to the cold storage manager and observing the register, it became evident that the eggs were kept there in a bid to manipulate the market.

In another drive on 5 May, the DNCRP found 28 lakh eggs at a cold storage in Pakundia of Kishoreganj.

Ridoy Ranjan Banik, assistant director of DNCRP Kishoreganj, said traders were stockpiling eggs in the cold storage to destabilise the egg market.

Tanzin Ahsan, a private company employee, told the Daily Sun that the price of Sonali chicken was Tk290-320 a few months ago but its price increased by Tk100 per kg since then. “We’re struggling to maintain the food habit with the fixed income.”

He said he has to purchase around 20kg of Sonali chicken per month for his family. “My cost will increase by Tk2,000 per month to buy chicken alone,” he said.

However, Md Aman Ullah, president of Tejgaon Multipurpose Cooperatives Society, an organisation of wholesale egg traders, denied the allegation of forming a syndicate to manipulate the egg price, saying only 20-22 wholesale traders are selling around 15-16 lakh eggs in Tejgaon per day. “How could we make a syndicate with this small number of traders whereas around 4 crore eggs sell every day.”

“The production of eggs has declined due to the heat wave while many farmers lost their chickens to the extreme heat, leading to a supply crunch. On the other hand, the demand for eggs increased at restaurants and bakeries as offices, schools and factories are now running in full swing,” he said.

Meanwhile, the price of most of the vegetables has also increased significantly.