India-based LMJ International made the lowest offer at $332.90 a tonne, including C&F liner out, in a Bangladesh tender to import 70,000 tonnes of wheat which opened on Monday, a food official said. The tender was issued by the state grains buyer early last month, with offers remaining valid to September 27, and shipment will have to be within 60 days of contract signing.
The offer was $17.90 per tonne higher than the lowest bid in the previous tender that opened on September 2. Wheat futures started climbing in July and touched a two-year high in August as a severe drought in the Black Sea region, excessive rain in Canada and a mix of unfavourable weather in European Union countries forced the 2010 wheat crop forecast down.
Deals earlier concluded by both the state buyer and private importers for around 265,000 tonnes of Black Sea wheat to ship to Bangladesh were cancelled following the Russian ban, which forced the government to switch to more rice imports to build stockpiles.
Bangladesh's wheat imports are likely to drop to around 2.5 million to 3.0 million tonnes this fiscal year to June 2011, traders say. Bangladesh mainly buys Black Sea wheat and smaller quantities of high-quality Australian and CCanadian cargoes for blending Bangladesh purchased 3.5 million tonnes of wheat in the fiscal year that ended in June 2010, mainly because of cheaper prices.