Iranian company offers fertiliser, wheat at 30pc lower prices

An Iranian company has offered Bangladesh to supply granular urea fertiliser, sulfur, and wheat at up to 30 per cent lower prices compared to international market prices, officials said.
The Tehran-based trading company, Petroimc Group, one of the world's major traders of crude oil and refined petroleum products, will source the products from Russia and supply them to Bangladesh, it said in a recent offer to the Ministry of Commerce.
The Iranian company offered three options under which it wants to provide a waiver between 20 per cent and 30 per cent for the proposed supply of products.
Petroimc said if Bangladesh wants to import the products in one shipment per month, each weighing 50,000 tonnes, a 20 per cent price waiver of the prevailing international market prices on the day of delivery will be offered.
In the case of two shipments per month, each weighing 50,000 tonnes and for a one-year contract, the company will offer a 25 per cent waiver on prevailing market prices.
And, the company also offered a 30 per cent price waiver if Bangladesh takes four shipments per month, each weighing 50,000 tonnes.
The company will source all the products from Russia and payment is sought through a standby letter of credit and bank guarantee.
Both Iran and Russia are on the list of countries with U.S. sanctions.
Akbar Soltani, chief executive officer of the Petroimc Group, mentioned that his company is the seller of the products and that no Iranian company or Iranian banks will be involved in these transactions.
He also mentioned that no Russian company or Russian bank will remain involved in these transactions and that his company's offices in the United Kingdom or Canada will handle the deals.
Contacted Tuesday, a senior official at the Ministry of Commerce acknowledged receiving the offer and said that usually after receiving such offers, they send them to the ministries and departments concerned for further steps.
The official, however, did not agree to provide further details about the offer.
According to another commerce ministry official, Russia has repeatedly offered Bangladesh food products and has written four times in a period of ten months to enhance export earnings amid Western sanctions following its invasion of Ukraine.
In the latest communiqué in late October, the Russian Embassy to Bangladesh said its state-run company Prodintorg is willing to expand cooperation with Bangladesh by supplying red lentils, green lentils, sunflower oil, yellow peas and chickpeas on a government-to-government (G2G) basis.
Russia also offered to supply these essential commodities at the "best competitive and comprehensive prices". Prodintorg has been supplying fertilisers and grains since 2013.

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