57,500 tonnes of US wheat arrive at Mongla Port, unloading begins

Commercial vessel MV Ultra Bulk, carrying 57,500 tonnes of wheat imported from the United States, anchored at Mongla Port on Sunday.

The ship entered the port in the morning and, following sample testing of the wheat, unloading operations commenced during the afternoon shift.

Earlier, on January 29, the vessel had been stationed at the port’s fairway buoy.

Md. Shamim, manager of the local shipping agent Seven Seas, said the vessel had departed from the Port of Portland, Oregon, USA, on December 21 last year for Mongla Port.

On January 29 this year, it anchored at the fairway buoy before sample testing was conducted. Unloading of the wheat has been started today during the afternoon (B shift) after clearance of the samples.

Abdus Sobhan Sardar, Assistant Food Controller at Mongla Food Office, said the wheat import is being carried out under the Government-to-Government (G2G) agreement between the United States and Bangladesh. Under this arrangement, a total of 450,000 tonnes of wheat will be imported through Mongla Port.

The current shipment is the fourth consignment under the agreement.

He added that the first consignment of 22,780 tonnes arrived on November 2 last year, the second consignment of 60,875 tonnes on November 14, and the third consignment of 22,756 tonnes on January 5 this year.

The imported wheat is initially stored at the government food warehouse, Mongla Silo, before being distributed to various districts across the country.

It is noted that to address the trade deficit, the Government of Bangladesh signed a five-year Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the United States in July last year.