CHATTOGRAM, Nov 04: The state-owned Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB) has imported a total of 728 tonnes of onions by sea since India imposed a ban on onion export on September 14 this year.
Port sources said, TCB's imported onions reached the NCT jetty of the country's prime sea port on November 02 in 28 refer containers. This is the first time that the TCB imported onions through the sea route, they added.
Deputy director of the port's Plant Quarantine Centre (PQC), Dr Muhammed Asaduzzaman Bulbul, told the FE that the country's private sector imported a total of 29,530 tonnes of onions through the sea port since September 14 last.
Confirming the arrival of the TCB's imported onions at the port, Chattogram's TCB office director Jamal Uddin told this correspondent that the government imported the onions from different countries. "The first consignment of (TCB's) imported onions by sea reached the Chittagong port on November 02. The imported 728 tonnes of onions will be distributed across the country for sale by (TCB) trucks," he said.
"(Earlier) we sold onions by trucks after procuring (the bulb) from importers. Now, the government is directly importing onions (through sea route). The second consignment of around 750 tonnes in 29 containers is expected to arrive at the port soon," he added.
According to the PQC of Chittagong port, the first consignment of onions arrived at the port by ship on September 28 following India's export ban on the kitchen staple.
Deputy director Asaduzzaman said, "We have issued Import Permission (IP) for importing onions by sea. The importers have taken 567 IPs for importing 203,530 tonnes of onions from 12 countries so far. The countries are China, Egypt, Turkey, Myanmar, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Malaysia, South Africa, Ukraine, India, the UAE and Pakistan. We have given NOC for delivery of 29,530 tonnes of onions against 476 IPs till November 03."
Traders said there is a huge stock of onions at wholesale markets at Khatungonj and Chaktai. The imported onions are glutting the local markets. The price of onions has notably decreased at wholesale as well as retail markets.
On the other hand, the TCB has been selling onions for the last one month using 20 trucks as its makeshift sales points in different areas of the port city at a rate of Tk 30 per kg.
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