Star Business Report.

Bangladesh received a significant shipment of rice from Pakistan and India yesterday as part of the government’s efforts to boost the country’s public food stocks and contain the prices of the staple in the domestic market.

Out of the 50,000 tonnes of rice to be bought under a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Pakistan, Bangladesh received a total of 26,250 tonnes of white rice.

The Directorate of Food, Bangladesh and the Trading Corporation of Pakistan signed the deal in January this year, said Gnana Priya Bidurshi Chakma, controller of movement and storage at Chattogram food office.

This is the first shipment of rice from Pakistan since Bangladesh’s independence, he said.

The ship MV SIBI left the Port of Qasim, Karachi last week.

The price of the rice is $499 per tonne as per the agreement, he said, adding that another ship with the second consignment of rice would arrive on March 10.

Another shipment from India, bought through an international tender, arrived at Chittagong port yesterday, according to a statement from the food ministry.

The ship, MV HT UNITE, carried a consignment of 11,000 tonnes of parboiled rice.

In January, the government relaxed provisions of the public procurement rules to expedite purchase of 300,000 tonnes of rice through international tenders to quickly replenish public food reserves and intervene in the market to stabilise rice prices.

At that time, the government also decided to purchase 50,000 tonnes of white rice from Pakistan under a government-to-government deal.

Published Date: March 6, 2025