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Hyderabad: Dates get dearer as imports tumble
The supply of imported dates has been hit this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic; as a result, their price has gone up by 20 per cent
Hyderabad: The supply of imported dates has been hit this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic; as a result, their price has gone up by 20 per cent.
With Ramzan expected to start from Saturday, retailers as well as customers were seen rushing to wholesale markets to stock dates.
According to traders, no new stocks of quality dates from Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq, Tunisia and other Arab countries have arrived due to ban on all kinds of international cargo services, by air and sea.
This year, most dates stocks arrived from major port cities like Mumbai and Chennai at Begum Bazar prior to the spread of virus in India.
"The dates had arrived a couple of months back and there is no short supply of dates," said Raj Kumar Tandon, owner of Kashmir House at Begum Bazar.
He said dates were still being procured from traders in Mumbai. "The sales started last week as the retailers started purchasing the stocks," he added.
The wholesale price for imported varieties from Iran and Iraq (Zahidi dates) ranges from Rs 120 to Rs 250 per kg, while the local variety sells for Rs 50 to Rs 150 per kg. Some premium varieties like Ajwa, also known to be the king of dates, are being sold at Rs 2,000 and above in the market.
Famously, the varieties of dates being sold in city are Kimia, Shukkuri, KupKup, Khudri, Mariyum, and dates are filled with some dry fruits like almond, nuts, apricots etc. Beside this, Mazafati, Kalmi, Mashrooq, Maghroom and around 40 different varieties of dates are available in market.
It is observed that vendors and pushcart sellers are selling dates at high prices, making huge profits by charging more than Rs 80-120 per kg and selling each box of 500 gm of Kimia dates at Rs 250-280 per box (almost double the wholesale price).
