March 8, 2012

 

Bangladesh to revise wheat import target upward

 

 

For the current fiscal year (FY 2011-12), the government of Bangladesh has planned to do more upward revision in its wheat import target by 150,000 tonnes against the backdrop of falling import trend by the private channel.

 

The import of wheat under private initiatives has slowed down in recent days following the problems related with the opening of letters of credit (L/Cs) by most of the public and private banks.

 

Earlier, the Ministry of Food and Disaster Management (MoFDM) had set a target to import 0.9 million tonnes of wheat for the FY 2011-12. But the target was later curtailed to 0.75 million tonnes.

 

"The MoFDM sent a letter to the Ministry of Finance (MoF) last month seeking its green signal for importing 0.15 million tonnes of wheat more to fulfil the previous import target of 0.9 million tonnes," a high official of the Directorate General of Food told the FE Monday preferring anonymity.

 

"The consignment of 0.1 million tonnes of wheat from Ukraine has already arrived in the country. Out of 60,000 tonnes of wheat, 12,500 tonnes are now being unloaded in the port," Director (Procurement) of Directorate General of Food Md Badrul Hasan told the FE on the day.

 

He said from July 2010 to February 2011, the private channel had imported 1.8 million tonnes of wheat which was only 0.9 million tones over the same period of the current fiscal.

 

The MoFDM held a meeting on February 29 last with the wheat importers and traders. The importers informed the high-ups of the ministry of the situation they have been facing relating to opening of L/Cs.

 

Badrul said about 422,000 tonnes of wheat had already been stored in the government warehouses as the exporting countries have been maintaining on-time shipment of wheat.

 

He said apart from signing contract with Ukraine the government has also signed contracts with OLAM International, a Singapore-based company, for supply of wheat to Bangladesh. The prices of wheat being imported by the government are US$320 and US$280 per tonne, respectively, he added.