Bangladesh tenders to import 100,000 tonnes of wheat

DHAKA (Reuters) - Bangladesh has issued a tender to import 100,000 tonnes of wheat by the end of July to boost emergency food stocks, officials said on Saturday.

The tender issued by the Food and Disaster Management Ministry, will close on June 2 and will run until June 22, for shipment within 30 days of the signing the contract.

The tender price has to be quoted separately for the country's Chittagong and Mongla ports, based on the cost of the cargo, insurance and freight including stevedoring on the seller's account, at the both ends of the shipment.

Earlier on Thursday, Singapore-based Agrocorp International Pte Ltd won a deal via tender to supply 100,000 tonnes of soft red winter wheat, by end of June.

Under the deal Agrocorp will supply 70,000 tonnes of wheat at $446 per tonne to Chittagong port, and the remainder at $456 per tonne to Mongla port, cif, including stevedoring at the seller's account at both ends of the shipments, the official said.

Bangladesh will import more food including wheat in the coming year to help make the essential foodstuff affordable to millions of poor people, a senior food ministry official said.

Bangladesh's government and private sector importers have imported 1.3 million tonnes of wheat so far in the current fiscal year to June, a senior food official told Reuters.

Officials say the country needs to import more than 2 million tonnes to meet annual demand of 3.5 million tonnes of wheat. Bangladesh produced some 1.4 million tonnes of wheat this year, up 80 percent from the previous year.

Bangladesh has set a target to build emergency food stock of 3 million tonnes of rice and wheat in the next fiscal year.

(Reporting by Masud Karim)