DHAKA: Bangladesh’s state grains buyer plans to import 950,000 tonnes of wheat in the year to June 2016, up from 300,000 tonnes the previous year, seeking to secure food supplies.
“We will seek wheat with 12.5 percent protein content to ensure quality,” said Ilahi Dad Khan, procurement director at the Directorate General of Food.
The announcement came after the Supreme Court questioned the quality of recent Brazilian wheat imports, prompting the state buyer to seek alternative supplies.
In addition, the state buyer will procure 1.5 million tonnes of rice locally.
Bangladesh depends heavily on imports to feed its poor and keep domestic prices stable.
In 2008, record food prices led to cancellations of wheat import deals and sparked protests in a country where nearly a third of the population lives on less than $2 a day.
Khan said current problems were not as serious as in 2008, or as in 2011, when Bangladesh became a major rice importer after its local procurement drive failed. Prices for both wheat and rice on international markets currently are at multi-year lows.
Bangladesh, the world’s fourth-biggest rice producer, consumes almost all its production. It aims to produce more than 35 million tonnes of rice in the current year, up from nearly 34 million the previous year.
Rice is the main staple for Bangladesh’s 160 million people, but wheat consumption is also rising due to lifestyle changes. It often needs to import rice to cope with shortages caused by floods or drought.
In addition to the government, private traders also import about 2.5 million tonnes of wheat a year to help meet local demand of 4 million tonnes.
Domestic output amounts to about 1 million tonnes.
