Bangladesh wheat import tender draws lowest offer

A Bangladesh tender to import 50,000 tonnes of wheat drew its lowest offer from Dubai-based Phoenix Global on Thursday at $265 a tonne, officials at the state grains buyer said.

Three other trading houses competed for the tender from Bangladesh’s Directorate General of Food, quoting deliveries at $273.20 a tonne, $274.85 a tonne and $274.90 a tonne.

The price includes shipping, insurance and discharge costs.

Bangladesh imported 5.8 million tonnes of wheat in the year to June 2017, making it one of the world’s biggest importers of the grain.

Bangladesh has turned to the Black Sea region for wheat because supply from India has dwindled as it meets growing domestic demand. Bangladesh’s output has stagnated at around 1 million tonnes.

The government has bought 200,000 tonnes of wheat in an inter-state deal at $252 a tonne from Russia, which is set to overtake the United States as the world’s biggest wheat exporter this year.

Bangladesh also buys smaller quantities of high-quality Australian and Canadian cargoes for blending.