Private rice import dips as price on int’l market goes up

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The country’s rice and wheat importers have refrained from importing the food grains for the last several months, triggering a shortage in the local market as well as raising their prices, observed traders and officials concerned.

The anti-graft drives that sent a chill through the country’s business community and the pressure mounted on them by the government to minimise profit level also discouraged many of the importers from doing business this time around, said importers and food ministry officials.

Steep rise in the prices of rice on the international markets coupled with India’s refusal to export rice to Bangladesh have further inflamed the situation that has also been discouraging for the importers, they added.

Food and Disaster Management Adviser AMM Shawkat Ali told The Daily Star last week, “We all should understand that these are significant reasons behind the soaring price of rice in the country.”

The high time for importing rice is the month of December and the following eight months, when the prices remain low on the international markets including those in India, Vietnam, Thailand and Pakistan.

On an average, three to four lakh tonnes of rice entered the country each month during this period last year, said importers and traders.

“But for the last five months or so, import by the private sector has been zero,” the adviser said adding that this trend affected the local market.

Peus Costa, director general of food directorate, said the bulk of rice is imported by the private sector.

According to food ministry, a total of 3.45 million tonnes of food grains were imported in the last fiscal year out of which about two-thirds (2.56 million tonnes) were imported by the private sector. Out of 30 lakh tonnes of wheat imported last year, the government imported only 10 lakh tonnes while the rest was imported by the private sector.

“Several thousand tonnes might be imported from Myanmar this year and that too stopped months ago,” said a senior food ministry official.

Tipu Sultan, a large rice importer, told The Daily Star, “We have no way but to refrain from importing this year. The abnormal price of rice in the international markets since December last year has forced us to do so.”

“If we import rice at the higher rate, the retail price for it will be Tk 50 per kilogram,” he explained.

He accused the interim government of not having a policy on import of rice. “The government’s decision to impose an embargo on private traders late last year to import rice was a big mistake,” he observed.

Another rice importer said, “The government should’ve taken initiative to reach a deal with India since the price of rice is still much less there compared to Bangladesh.”

Importers also were discouraged to do business this year to avoid ‘unnecessary hassle’ of different agencies of the government, he said.

The Food Adviser, however, said overall procurement is in a very solid position with about 9.64 lakh tonnes of food grains already in government warehouses. “This time last year the reserve was 6.25 lakh tonnes.”

The reserve is expected to improve once the remainder of the rice from India arrives by August, he said.

There is little chance of importing rice in private sector in the next few months, said a number of importers adding that the situation would have been different had they been able to import from India.

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