The ship, MV Pax, arrived at the harbour carrying 27,000 tonnes of rice from Vietnam on Monday morning, Food Directorate’s Controller of the Movement, Storage and Silo Division Md Jahirul Islam has said.
“The distribution of the first shipment of 20,000 tonnes has begun. The second shipment will also be distributed quickly once the necessary formalities are complete.”
So far 47,000 of the 250,000 tonnes of rice the Bangladesh government bought from Vietnam arrived. Food Directorate officials expect the third shipment on Jul 22, reports bdnews24.com.
Bangladesh decided to import rice from the Southeast Asian country after floods destroyed crops in haor areas and depleted the government’s rice reserves.
On Jun 14 this year, the government cleared the 9.08 billion procurement under a government-to-government deal.
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, according to the agreement.
Vietnam’s state-run Vinafood 2 will supply 60 per cent of shipments through Chittagong port and the rest through the Mongla port.
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