Bangladesh's Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi has said traders have started importing wheat from Canada and other countries after the closure of the Ukraine-Russia market due to the ongoing war.

While briefing reporters, he said the wheat issue was raised at the fourth meeting of the task force on reviewing commodity prices and market conditions at the Secretariat on Thursday (November 03, 2022).

“One of the major traders said one of his shipments of 55,000 tons of wheat was stuck at Turkey port but it has now started for Bangladesh. As Ukraine was our main supplier of wheat, the price might be higher for importing from Canada to meet demands for now,” he said.

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Tipu Munshi said there is a little shortfall in the amount of wheat to be imported and supply will normalize if Ukraine and Russia lift the ban on export.

The wheat being imported from Canada is also of good quality, he added.

Regarding the price hike of pulses by Tk 10 per kg in the last few days, the minister said, impacted by the global price hike the pulse supply has declined a bit. 

“The Tariff Commission will look into this and see if the price increase is reasonable,” he added.

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He also said due to rising dollar prices, Bangladesh is not getting the benefit of falling global prices of rod, and cement at the moment.

“People's main focus is on food. If the food production is right, compromises can be made in other sectors,” Bangladesh's commerce minister said.