Bangladesh Sugar and Food Industries Corporation has issued an international tender to import 25,000 tonnes of refined sugar as part of efforts to build reserves, an official with the corporation said on Friday. The last date of submission of offers is February 11 and the tender will open on the same day. Earlier this month, it issued another tender for a similar quantity of sugar, with offers due by January 28.
Another tender to import a same quantity is due to open on January 7, after being deferred from December 10. In May it last purchased 50,000 tonnes of sugar from France-based commodities firm Sucden at $720.90 a tonne, including cost and freight. The state sugar buyer aims to buy 200,000 tonnes of sugar in 2012 to build stocks and cool domestic prices of the sweetener.
Bangladesh tax authority has waived duty of 2,000 taka ($25) a tonne on import of refined sugar. Another state buyer Trading Corporation of Bangladesh last month imported 12,500 tonnes of white sugar from India's Uma Corporation at around $700 a tonne, on a cost and freight basis. Bangladesh depends largely on imported sugar to meet its annual demand of 1.4 million tonnes as the country produces nearly 100,000 tonnes. Private millers import mostly raw sugar from India, Brazil, Thailand and Cuba.