The government has given the go-ahead to export 50,000 tonnes of rice to Sri Lanka, reports bdnews24.com.
Food Minister Quamrul Islam told reporters Monday that Sri Lanka will buy rice from Bangladesh at $450 per tonne.
Bangladesh had exported some aromatic rice before, but such a large quantity of non-aromatic variety would be sold for the first time.
On Sept 18, the Cabinet Committee on Government Purchase approved the export of rice. "The process will start within the next 10 to 15 days after a delegation from Sri Lanka arrives in Bangladesh," the minister said after a meeting of the Food department's planning committee at the Secretariat.
According to the minister, the price of rice in the international market is $400 to $420 per tonne. "The production cost of the rice to be exported is $436, which means a profit of $14 in every tonne."
At present there is a stock of 1.4 million tonnes of food grains, which is almost 300,000 tonnes more than what it was at the same time last year, said Islam.
He claimed the price of rice in the local market was stable now. "The decision to export rice has been taken considering factors like floods and droughts."
The minister said that the annual output of food grains was 35 million tonnes and the daily demand 100,000 tonnes, which meant there was an excess of 3 to 4 million tonnes.
Rice export to Lanka: Price fixed at $450 per tonne
FE Team | Published: October 28, 2014 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2026 06:01:00
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