Wheat price falling as India lifts embargo

The price of wheat has gone down by Tk 4-5 per kilogram as supply issues eased on the back of India resuming exports through the Hili land port in Dinajpur.

The traders said they bought wheat at Tk 36-37 per kg on Saturday, which was Tk 40 -41 per kg last week.

Mustafizur Rahman, general secretary of the Hili land port export-import group, told UNB that the price of wheat decreased due to increased supply recently.

India imposed an embargo on wheat export to maintain supply of the food grains in their domestic market on 13 May.

The wheat import allowed by India under the previous LCs since 29 May this year. The importers who opened LCs to import wheat through railway containers now have to import it by road due to some problems with the railway line, Mustafijur said.

The traders said the price of wheat increased to Tk 1600 per maund, from Tk 950 only before the Ukraine-Russia war. One maund equals more or less 40kg.

Bangladesh’s second staple is wheat and the annual consumption of these grains is nearly 8.5 million tonnes, which is increasing by 5 to 6 per cent per year.

Until January of fiscal year 2021-22, India supplied 66 per cent of the wheat Bangladesh imported. Of the rest, 15 per cent was from Ukraine, 7 per cent from Russia, 6 per cent from Canada, and 5 per cent from Australia.