CHENNAI: Onions have breached the Rs 110-mark-per kg in Koyambedu wholesale market again after a fall of Rs 10 a couple of days ago due to lack of supplies of onions from Karnataka.
Abdul Khader, secretary of Koyambedu Vegetable Wholesale Merchants Association, said the price of onion has breached Rs 100 again and is in the range of Rs 110 to Rs 120 in the wholesale market. This comes after the onion prices fell and was hovering at Rs 90 per kg.
While some onion traders in Koyambedu are hoping that the price of onion could even touch Rs 150 per kg, Abdul says it is too early to predict. "I think the prices will return to normal in the next 10 days as the arrival of fresh crops has begun," he says.
Bhaskar an onion trader said that the surge in the prices is due to rains. "Today there was no supply of Bangalore Onions. We only had limited stock of Nasik onions. The entire wholesale market doesn't have onion stock," he says.
The stocks which will arrive tomorrow won't be enough so the prices can appreciate, he says. the price of onions is now reaching a new high resulting in consumers cutting down the usage of the vegetable.
Meanwhile, the price of Andhra Onion, which was considered to be that of second quality is now selling at Rs 85 per kg, says Bhaskar.
S Chandran, Market management Committee Licensed Merchants Association President and Anaithu Sangankalin Kootamaipu general secretary, told Express that the Onion prices in the Koyambedu market have not gone beyond Rs 100 per kg. "Maybe in the semi-wholesale market, the price may have appreciated by Rs 110 to Rs 120. That is for the best quality of Onions. Onions, considered to be secondary quality, still are available for Rs 4,000 (Rs 80 per kg), he says.