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The price of wheat in Bangladesh may decrease as wheat
export from Ukraine resumes after the agreement with Russia. Before the
Russia-Ukraine war, 40 percent of Bangladesh's wheat imports were from the two
countries.
After almost five months of standstill, the first ship
loaded with wheat sailed from Ukraine to Turkey on Monday (01 August 2022)
across the Black Sea.
Importers and wholesalers said wheat prices have risen by Tk
300-400 per maund (about 37 kg) after the war broke out and India restricted
wheat exports from February this year.
Indian and Canadian wheat were selling at Tk 900 and Tk
1,100 per maund respectively before the conflict started in late February.
The wholesale traders of Khatunganj said that yesterday (02
August, 2022) the price of a kg was 1 thousand 450 taka and 2 thousand 100 taka
respectively. Traders said that the price of products has been normal for the
last one week.
However, at the end of July, the price of each variety has
reduced to Tk 100 due to the reduction in international market contracts and
prices.
"The domestic wheat market was not showing that much of
a change despite the price fall in the international market and resumption of
exports from Ukraine due to the higher exchange rate of the dollar," Abul
Bashar Chowdhury, chairman of BSM Group, told the news media.
"The bank LC was opened at the time of import stage at
Tk 87 per dollar, but the dollar rate increased to Tk 97 to Tk 106 per dollar
during payment of the consignments. So, the price of the product has not
reduced as per international market," he said.
He said that if the loan is opened now, it will take one to
one and a half months for these products to arrive in the country. He also said
that as the supply of products will increase, the prices will also decrease
when the products come to the market.
According to the National Board of Revenue, Bangladesh
imported a total of 14.66 lakh tonnes of wheat in first eight months of last
fiscal year of 2021-22 till February before the war.
In this period, around 40 percent of the imported wheat came
from Russia and Ukraine.
According to importers, the purchase of wheat and wheat
products has increased by 10-15 percent almost every year over the past decade
due to increased demand in the domestic market.
But over the past two years, imports of the commodity have
fallen due to falling demand and global price hikes during the pandemic.
According to data from the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics
and the Department of Agricultural Extension, the country's annual wheat demand
is around 70 lakh tonnes to 75 lakh tonnes, of which 85 percent is met through
imports.
In Dhaka, the retail price of unpackaged wheat flour fell by
3.5 percent to Tk 40-42 a kg yesterday from Tk 40-45 a month ago.
According to price data compiled by the Trading Corporation
of Bangladesh, the price of packaged wheat flour fell 6.6 percent to Tk 48-50 a
kg yesterday(02 Aug 2022) compared to a month ago.
|Source: Online/SZK
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