DHAKA: Bangladesh will cancel an international tender to import 50,000 tonnes of wheat, citing higher prices, two officials from the state grains procurement agency said on Wednesday. Singapore-based Agrocorp made the lowest offer of $248.26 a tonne, including CIF liner out, in the tender, which was the first for the current fiscal year that began in July. “The offer was high considering global wheat prices,” a senior official at the Directorate General of Food, the procurement agency, said.
Another official at the agency, who did not wish to be named, also confirmed the scrapping of the tender. Only one other trader, Aston, competed for the tender, quoting $250 a tonne, including CIF liner out, meaning the price includes shipping, insurance and discharge costs.
Traders in Europe told Reuters that the tender had been scrapped as it drew offers from only two bidders, resulting in higher prices. The tender follows a setback to Bangladesh’s import plans after three cargoes of Russian wheat, totalling 150,000 tonnes, were cancelled over quality concerns.
The state grains buyer plans to ship in 500,000 tonnes of wheat for the current financial year. Apart from government purchases, private traders import about 4 million tonnes of wheat a year to meet growing demand while the country’s domestic output has stagnated at about 1 million tonnes. Bangladesh has turned to the Black Sea region for wheat as supply from India faded. Rice is the main staple for Bangladesh’s 160 million people, but wheat consumption is also rising because of lifestyle changes.
