Amid soaring prices of wheat following the Indian export ban, Bangladesh High Commission in Australia has suggested that the government take steps to import wheat from Australia through private arrangement.
To this end, the high commission in Canberra has submitted a report to the commerce ministry, recommending that Bangladesh should import wheat from Australia considering its high prices in the local market due to supply crunch.
However, it is not a good idea to import red lentils from Australia as the prices of the item will not be economically affordable for Bangladesh, according to the high commission.
Presently, average prices of per tonne of wheat in the South Queensland, central New South Wales, central Victoria, south east and south Australia, and western Australia are, respectively, A$473, A$465, A$461, A$485 and A$477, mission data showed.
Australia currently is the third largest wheat exporter in the world. The country fetched US$ 7.2 billion through wheat export in 2021 - 13 per cent of the total wheat export across the world, as per the data.
Amid the supply crunch, Dhaka has pushed New Delhi to let the private sector import the grain alongside the government-to-government (G2G) arrangement.
Besides, the food ministry has recently asked the Bangladesh high commission in New Delhi to look into the wheat import from India under G2G arrangement, an official said.
Last week, the commerce ministry also wrote to the foreign ministry for necessary measures to get the required wheat supply in order to meet the domestic demand in Bangladesh.
In this regard, Dhaka wants to use the bilateral 'historically friendly' and 'important commercial' ties to get wheat supply from India despite its recent ban.
Delhi slapped the ban on May 13, citing a spike in the prices of the grain, as food security there is at risk.
It, however, sought to support the 'needs of the neighbouring and other vulnerable countries' behind prohibiting wheat export.
However, India allowed wheat shipments for the irrevocable letters of credit which were issued on the date or before the imposition of the ban.
It also kept a provision for exporting the cereal on the Indian government's permission to meet food security needs of other countries and on request from their governments.
In Bangladesh, wheat price has escalated to Tk 1,600 per maund from Tk 900 in March for a supply crunch following the Moscow-Kyiv conflict in late February.
Russia and Ukraine are the major suppliers of wheat to the global food basket.
Bangladesh annually imports 6.0 million tonnes of wheat from a host of countries, including its next-door neighbour India, to meet the demand.
Sources say the food ministry has recently received a letter from the National Federation of Farmers' Procurement Processing and Retailing Cooperatives of India Ltd (NACOF) expressing interest in supplying wheat to Bangladesh.
It wants to supply 300,000 tonnes of Indian milling wheat to Bangladesh as it got a 'go-ahead' signal from the authorities concerned to start negotiations under the G2G basis.
After receiving the offer, sources add, the ministry has asked the Bangladesh high commission in New Delhi to quickly contact the Indian authorities concerned to bring wheat under G2G arrangement through NACOF or any other government organisation.
Food department annually imports 1.0-million tonnes of wheat through international tenders, reads a food ministry letter.
It also imports on a G2G basis in case of emergency to ensure food security. Rising wheat prices globally following the Ukraine war and the Indian ban have pushed up prices of flour and bakery items in Bangladesh.
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