Bangladesh issues tender to import 50,000T of rice

DHAKA: Bangladesh´s state grains buyer on Wednesday issued its fourth international tender since May, looking to import 50,000 tonnes of parboiled rice as it grapples with depleted stocks and record local prices.

The deadline for offers is July 9, with the rice to be shipped within 40 days of signing any deal, a senior official at the country´s state grains buyer said, declining to be identified. The step comes as the government is set to slash tax on rice imports after flash floods hit local output, plunging state reserves to 10-year lows.

Growing demand from Bangladesh will help stoke Asian prices that have already hit multi-year highs in recent months. Separately, Ataur Rahman, additional secretary at the food ministry, told Reuters last week, that the country would import 200,000 tonnes of white rice at $430 a tonne and 50,000 tonnes of parboiled rice at $470 a tonne from Vietnam in a government-to-government deal.

Those rates are sharply higher than what it has been paying through previous tenders. Bangladesh is buying 50,000 tonnes of white rice at $406.48 a tonne and 100,000 tonnes of parboiled rice at $427.85 and $445.11 a tonne through tenders.

The government is also in talks with Thailand and India to import rice to replenish reserves. Meanwhile, Bangladesh´s central bank has ordered banks to allow traders to import rice without any deposit against letters of credit.