The first shipment of rice from Vietnam has arrived at the Chittagong port.
“We believe the next shipment will arrive on Jul 18 and the third will arrive on the 22nd,” Md Jahirul Islam, controller of its Movement, Storage and Silo Division, told bdnews24.com.
Bangladesh decided to import 250,000 tonnes of rice from the Southeast Asian country after flooding in haor areas destroyed crops and depleted the government’s rice reserves.
On Jun 14 this year, the government cleared the 9.08 billion procurement under a under a government-to-government deal.
According to the agreement, Bangladesh will buy 50,000 tonnes of parboiled rice for around Tk 1.95 billion, or $470 a tonne and 200,000 tonnes of white rice for about Tk 7.14 billion at $430 a tonne.
Vietnam’s state-run Vinafood 2 will supply 60 percent of shipments through Chittagong port and the rest through the Mongla port.
Source: bdnews24