Bangladeshi traders are unwilling to import rice over fear of losses

Since rice was declared duty-free, 1,340 tonnes of rice arrived from India through Benapole in nine days

Traders are reluctant to import rice from India due to low wholesale and retail prices of coarse rice in the domestic market.

Importers claim that rice being imported at a price of Tk 53 per kg is available at Tk 50-52 in the domestic market, which is causing them to take losses.

Since rice was declared duty-free, 1,340 tonnes of rice arrived from India through the Benapole Land Port in Jashore in nine days, said Hemanta Kumar Sarkar, deputy assistant at the Plant Quarantine Centre at Benapole.

To keep the rice market stable, the Ministry of Commerce has approved a number of import companies to bring in parboiled and Atap rice duty-free. In order to avail themselves of the facility, importers must bring in the rice by Dec 22.

However, traders claim that the price of rice imported from India is higher than the wholesale price in the domestic market. As they fear losses, they have largely lost interest in rice imports.

The Benapole Land Port and Customs House said that a total of 1,340 tonnes of rice were imported from India using 42 trucks from Nov 18-27. Of this, 410 tonnes of golden (coarse) rice were imported on Wednesday and unloaded from the port on Thursday.

Sharsha Upazila rice importer Ark Trading has received approval to import 2,000 tonnes of Atap and 3,000 tonnes of parboiled coarse rice. Of this, the company has imported 200 tonnes of parboiled golden rice, the import price per kg of which is Tk 51. Additional expenses add up to Tk 1.5-2 per kg. This means the price of importing the rice per kg is Tk 53. However, this golden rice is being sold at a wholesale price of Tk 50 per kg in the domestic market.

Mofizur Rahman, owner of Ark Trading, said, “We imported coarse rice at a price of Tk 53 per kg. Then we saw that coarse rice was being sold at wholesale and retail prices of Tk 50-52 per kg in the domestic market.”

“We had to sell the rice at a loss of Tk 1 per kg at Tk 52. That is why it may not be possible to import 5,000 tonnes of rice by Dec 22.”

A local rice warehouse in Sharsha said that ripe golden coarse rice was being sold at a wholesale price of Tk 50.

Rashed Chowdhury, owner of Chowdhury Rice Mill in Navaran Bazar, said that hybrid coarse rice was being sold at Tk 49 per kg and golden coarse rice at Tk 51 per kg. New paddy rice has started coming to the market and rice prices will continue to fall from now on. However, this time, paddy production overall has decreased due to heavy rain and this will have an impact on the market due to rice imports.

Benapole Plant Quarantine Centre official Hemanta said that more rice shipments are waiting to enter the port. If imports continue, rice prices in the market will decrease.

The government has allowed the private sector to import a total of 587,000 tonnes of rice within a month to control the price of the staple food grain in the retail market. These imports must be completed by Dec 22.