Govt to import 12,500 tonnes of sugar from US

The government will import 12,500 tonnes of sugar and 220,000 tonnes of fertliser to meet the domestic requirements.

Cabinet Committee on Government Purchase (CCGP) in a meeting on Wednesday approved a number of proposals in this regard. Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal presided over the meeting held virtually.

According to a proposal of the Commerce Ministry, its subordinate body Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB) will import the sugar from Accentuate Technology Inc, USA (Local Agent: OMC Ltd, Dhaka) through an international open tender system at a total cost of Tk 66.27 crore with per kilogram (kg) cost at Tk 82.85.

Additional Secretary to the Cabinet Division Sayeed Mahbub Khan, who briefed reporters about the Cabinet body meeting, said while approving the proposal the issue of the Prime Minister’s instruction not to import any goods from any country which imposed sanctions on Bangladesh was not discussed in the meeting.

The committee approved two separate proposals from the Industries Ministry to import a total of 60,000 tonnes of urea fertiliser and 10,000 tonnes of phosphoric acid by its subordinate body Bangladesh Chemical Industries Corporation (BCIC).

Of these, 30,000 tonnes of bagged granular urea will be procured from Karnaphuli Fertilizer Company Limited (Kafco) at cost of Tk 120.03 crore with per tonne price at $371.25 while another 30,000 tonnes of bulk granular urea fertiliser will be imported from SABIC Agri-nutrients Company of Saudi Arabia at a cost of Tk 106.25 crore with per tonne price at $327.33.

The BCI will import 10,000 tonnes of phosphoric acid at Tk 60.95 crore from Sun International FZE, UAE (Local Agent: M/s Agro-Industrial Input, Dhaka) for TSP Complex Limited, Chittagong. Each tonne of acid will cost $566.50.

The CCGP approved a total of six proposals of Bangladesh Agriculture Development Corporation (BADC), placed by the Agriculture Ministry, for importing a total of 160,000 tonnes of different types of fertilisers.

Of these, the BADC will import 40,000 tonnes of DAP fertiliser from MA'ADEN, Saudi Arabia at a cost Tk 229.33 crore, $532 under the state-level contract.

It will import 30,000 tonnes of TSP fertiliser from OCP, SA of Morocco at a cost Tk 126.57 crore, with each tonne price at $391.50, under the state-level contract while 40,000 tonnes of DAP fertiliser will be imported from the same company of Morocco at a cost of Tk 233.42 crore with per MT price at $541.5.

The BADC will import 50,000 tonnes of Muriate of Potash (MOP) fertiliser from the Canadian Commercial Corporation under the state-level contract at a cost of Tk 225.23 crore, with per tonne price at $418.

The CCGP approved a proposal of the Local Government Division to extend the cost of the consultant by Tk 11.1 crore for its project "Water Supply and Sanitation in 23 Municipalities of Bangladesh (1st Revised)" being implemented by the Department of Public Health Engineering.

Joint Venture of (1) Ranhill, (2) Farhat and (3) DDC had been appointed as consultants for the project.