Rice import from three countries finalised

The government has finalised plans to import rice from Vietnam, Thailand and Myanmar on a government-to-government (G2G) basis. An offer has also been sent to the Indian authorities for rice import.

According to the Directorate-General of Food, they have chalked out plans to import around 10 lakh tonnes of rice under governmental arrangements.

Of these, six lakh tonnes of rice were scheduled to be imported with the allocation of the last fiscal year and the rest would be bought from the current financial year’s budgetary allocation.

The government has already signed an agreement with Vietnam to import 2.5 lakh tonnes of rice and the first consignment of rice will reach Bangladesh within eight to 10 days, the source added.

According to Reuters, Bangladesh received a lowest offer of $430 tonne CIF liner out from Phoenix in a tender that opened on Sunday to import 50,000 tonnes of parboiled rice, officials at the state grains buyer said. Six traders competed for Sunday's tender, the fourth issued since May by the Directorate General of Food.

The rice is to be shipped within 40 days of contract signing.

The state grains buyer bought 50,000 tonnes of white rice at $406.48 a tonne and 100,000 tonnes of parboiled rice at $427.85 and $445.11 a tonne in three previous tenders.

According to the government’s decision, it would import 50,000 tonnes of boiled rice at Tk. 195.05 crore (equivalent to USD 470 per tonne) and 200,000 tonnes of white rice at Tk. 713.80 crore (equivalent to USD 430 per tonne) from Vietnam.

Meanwhile, the government has finalised the terms and conditions to import about 1.5 lakh tonnes of rice from Thailand and an official delegation from Bangkok is expected to be in Dhaka on either July 19 or July 24 to fix the rates.

The delegation will meet Bangladesh’s officials to finalise the rate of imported rice on a G2G basis, Badrul Hasan, director-general of food, who landed in Dhaka yesterday from Bangkok, told The Independent.

“We have finalised all the terms and conditions to import rice from Thailand. We wanted two lakh tonnes for imports, but the Thai authorities agreed only to 1.5 lakh tonnes,” he said in reply to a query.

When asked about the price, he replied, “We didn’t discuss the price. There is a committee headed by the food secretary to fix prices on the import of rice on a G2G basis. The committee will fix the price with the Thai delegation during the meeting.”

The directorate-general of food will send an invitation to the Thai government to send its delegation. The Thai team is expected to land in Dhaka on July 19 or July 24, he added.

“The rice will reach Bangladesh from Thailand within 60 days of signing the agreement,” the DG said in reply to a query.

According to sources in the food ministry, an offer has already been sent to the Indian authorities for importing rice on a G2G basis, but they are yet to respond.

However, Bangladesh’s traders are importing rice from India under private management, and some 30,000 tonnes of rice

have already entered Bangladesh since the government reduced the Customs duty (tariff) on imported rice.

Meanwhile, food minister Qamrul Islam has said that the country will import rice from Myanmar on a G2G basis.

A memorandum of understanding (MoU) will be signed between the two countries very soon in this respect, he told reporters after a bilateral meeting with Myanmar’s ambassador to Bangladesh, U Myo Myint Than, at the Secretariat.

Rice prices have stabilised in the markets after the reduction in the tariff on rice imports from 28 per cent to 10 per cent. Rice is selling at least Tk. 2–3 per kg lower than the previous price of Tk. 41 per kg in local markets.

However, a total of 3.40 lakh tonnes of food-stocks is currently stored in different godowns across the country.

Around 15 lakh tonnes of coarse rice were imported in the 2014–15 fiscal year (FY) through the private sector, 2.57 lakh tonnes in the 2015–16 FY, and 1.21 lakh tonnes in the last FY, sources in the food ministry have said.

 

Rice import from three countries finalised

The government has finalised plans to import rice from Vietnam, Thailand and Myanmar on a government-to-government (G2G) basis. An offer has also been sent to the Indian authorities for rice import. According to the Directorate-General of Food, they have chalked out plans to import around 10 lakh tonnes of rice under governmental arrangements. Of these, six lakh tonnes of rice were scheduled to be imported with the allocation of the last fiscal year and the rest would be bought from the current financial years budgetary allocation. The government has already signed an agreement with Vietnam to import 2.5 lakh tonnes of rice and the first consignment of rice will reach Bangladesh within eight to 10 days, the source added. According to Reuters, Bangladesh received a lowest offer of $430 tonne CIF liner out from Phoenix in a tender that opened on Sunday to import 50,000 tonnes of parboiled rice, officials at the state grains buyer said. Six traders competed for Sundays tender, the fourth issued since May by the Directorate General of Food. The rice is to be shipped within 40 days of contract signing. The state grains buyer bought 50,000 tonnes of white rice at $406.48 a tonne and 100,000 tonnes of parboiled rice at $427.85 and $445.11 a tonne in three previous tenders. According to the governments decision, it would import 50,000 tonnes of boiled rice at Tk. 195.05 crore (equivalent to USD 470 per tonne) and 200,000 tonnes of white rice at Tk. 713.80 crore (equivalent to USD 430 per tonne) from Vietnam. Meanwhile, the government has finalised the terms and conditions to import about 1.5 lakh tonnes of rice from Thailand and an official delegation from Bangkok is expected to be in Dhaka on either July 19 or July 24 to fix the rates. The delegation will meet Bangladeshs officials to finalise the rate of imported rice on a G2G basis, Badrul Hasan, director-general of food, who landed in Dhaka yesterday from Bangkok, told The Independent. We have finalised all the terms and conditions to import rice from Thailand. We wanted two lakh tonnes for imports, but the Thai authorities agreed only to 1.5 lakh tonnes, he said in reply to a query. When asked about the price, he replied, We didnt discuss the price. There is a committee headed by the food secretary to fix prices on the import of rice on a G2G basis. The committee will fix the price with the Thai delegation during the meeting. The directorate-general of food will send an invitation to the Thai government to send its delegation. The Thai team is expected to land in Dhaka on July 19 or July 24, he added. The rice will reach Bangladesh from Thailand within 60 days of signing the agreement, the DG said in reply to a query. According to sources in the food ministry, an offer has already been sent to the Indian authorities for importing rice on a G2G basis, but they are yet to respond. However, Bangladeshs traders are importing rice from India under private management, and some 30,000 tonnes of rice have already entered Bangladesh since the government reduced the Customs duty (tariff) on imported rice. Meanwhile, food minister Qamrul Islam has said that the country will import rice from Myanmar on a G2G basis. A memorandum of understanding (MoU) will be signed between the two countries very soon in this respect, he told reporters after a bilateral meeting with Myanmars ambassador to Bangladesh, U Myo Myint Than, at the Secretariat. Rice prices have stabilised in the markets after the reduction in the tariff on rice imports from 28 per cent to 10 per cent. Rice is selling at least Tk. 23 per kg lower than the previous price of Tk. 41 per kg in local markets. However, a total of 3.40 lakh tonnes of food-stocks is currently stored in different godowns across the country. Around 15 lakh tonnes of coarse rice were imported in the 201415 fiscal year (FY) through the private sector, 2.57 lakh tonnes in the 201516 FY, and 1.21 lakh tonnes in the last FY, sources in the food ministry have said.