Bangladesh became the fourth largest buyer of Canadian grains, oilseeds and pulses in 2019, according to a leading Canadian agricultural publication.
The country's grain import from Canada jumped to $1.08 billion in 2019 from $438 million in 2018, showing a 128.31 per cent rise, the Western Producer reported on February 27.
Citing data from Statistics Canada, the report said Bangladesh sits next to China, Japan and the United States by importing Canadian wheat, canola, peas, lentils and other crops worth over $1.08 billion last year.
China topped all buyers with $2.63 billion of crop purchases from Canada despite erecting a number of barriers that hampered trade between the two countries.
"It's a good news type of statistic; because it means that we're able to find new markets for our products and that's what's happening," said Wade Sobkowich, executive director of the Western Grain Elevator Association.
According to the Canadian International Merchandise Trade Database, which uses slightly different numbers than the aggregate totals listed above, Bangladesh purchased $406 million worth of Canadian wheat in 2019, making it the fourth biggest buyer of the commodity.
It also imported $351 million worth of peas and lentils, which is almost three times as much as it bought in 2018.
And it gobbled up $369 million worth of Canadian soybeans and canola in 2019, a seven-fold increase over the previous year.
Pointing to the growing demand for food products in Bangladesh market, Sobkowich said, "They have a vast population and a huge potential market for grain products."
However, Western Producer, the weekly publication, indicated that the sudden increase in import by Bangladesh might have a potential link with the smuggling in those agro-products to India.
"Their population isn't doubling, tripling or growing seven-fold in one year. So there is something else at work. Some reports suggest it is the country's proximity to India," the report mentioned.
The report said that India started placing tariffs and quotas on a wide variety of imported crops in late 2017 in an effort to boost domestic prices for its farmers.
Bangladesh shares a border with India and there are reports that it and other neighbouring countries are importing pulses and then illegally smuggling them across the border duty-free, it said.
However, Sobkowich has no idea if Canadian crops are being smuggled into India through Bangladesh.
"It could very well be," he said, adding: "It wouldn't surprise me, let's put it that way."
Peter Hall, chief economist of Export Development Canada (EDC), believes the increased trade with Bangladesh also has a lot to do with Canada's trade trouble with China.
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