The commerce ministry has granted permission to 133 companies in the country to export 18,150 tonnes of fragrant rice.

This time, permission has been given to export 100 to 500 tonnes of rice, depending on the capacity of a company. The permission will remain valid until September 30.

The ministry sent a letter to the Office of the Chief Controller of Imports and Exports on Tuesday, informing about the permission, according to a ministry source.

After being closed for more than a year, the government has reopened the opportunity to export fragrant rice.

On January 22, the government took a preliminary decision to open the export of fragrant rice at the meeting of the Food Planning and Monitoring Committee of the Food Ministry.

However, this time, the amount and minimum price of rice exports have been fixed.

Now, 25,000 tonnes of rice can be exported from the country annually. The minimum price will be $1.60 a kg.

Exports of fragrant rice from Bangladesh started in the 2009-10 fiscal year. Rice exports were stopped in 2022.

The country exported 10,879 tonnes of rice worth $ 8.6 million in the 2019-20 fiscal year which was $ 8.5 million in the FY’21, and $5.1 million in the FY’22.

The country produces an average of 1.8-2.0 million tonnes of fragrant rice annually.

So far, fragrant rice has been exported to more than 130 countries, including the United Arab Emirates, European countries, the United States, the United Kingdom, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei and South Korea, through various corporate organisations.

The commerce ministry has a list of fragrant rice that can be exported to the countries. The rice are kalijeera, chinigura, chini atap, chini kanai, badshabhog, kataribhog, madanbhog, radhunipagal, banshphul, jatabanchphul, binnaphul, tulsimala, tulsi atap, tulsi mani, madhumala, khorma, sakkur khorma, nunia, pashushail, dulabhog, etc.

However, rice prices have shot up to an all-time high this year in Bangladesh.

Coarse rice is now sold at Tk 60-62 a kg, medium Tk 68-72, finer Tk 85-125 and aromatic kalijeera/chinigura) Tk 145-170 a kg in the country.

Rice prices have witnessed 20-25 per cent hike in a year in Bangladesh, according to trading sources.

Published Date: April 11, 2025