Phoenix wins contract to supply 50,000 tonnes of rice to Bangladesh

The Cabinet Committee on Public Purchase has approved the food ministry's proposal to buy 50,000 tonnes of rice from Dubai-based Phoenix Global.

Senior Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 19 July 2017, 02:31 PM
Updated : 19 July 2017, 02:31 PM

A panel of ministers headed by Finance Minister AMA Muhith approved the purchase proposal during a meeting at the secretariat on Wednesday.

Phoenix has won the contract to supply non-basmati parboiled rice at $430 per tonne, Mustafizur Rahman, additional secretary of Cabinet Division, told the media in Dhaka.

Last month, the government planned to import 600,000 tonnes of rice to keep the market stable which was rattled by flash floods that hit the northeastern haor areas in April.

It floated tenders to buy 200,000 tonnes of rice in June. Tenders for the rest 400,000 tonnes will be floated this month, according to the Directorate General of Food.

Phoenix became the lowest bidder among six traders that participated in the tender.

Singapore-based Olam International became the second lowest bidder that offered to supply rice at $430.8 per tonne.

The government hopes rice prices will ease once imports arrive in the market.

The government had 177,000 tonnes of rice in stock until Jul 17, compared to 700,000 tonnes in July last year, according to the food ministry’s data.