Another 16,400 tons of rice arrive from India

This is the second consignment of rice under an open tender import to arrive from India since 20 January.

The imported rice arrived at Mongla Port on Saturday morning, with two ships carrying 16,400 tons of rice anchored at the port's jetty, says the Dhaka Tribune.

The Panama-flagged vessel BMC Alpha arrived from India's Dhamra Port carrying 7,700 tons of rice and anchored at the port's No 7 mooring buoy.

At the same time, the Thailand-flagged MV Sea Forest anchored at the fairway buoy with 8,700 tons of rice from Kolkata Port.

Siddiqur Rahman Jalal, manager of Mango Shipping Lines, the shipping agent for the vessels, confirmed the information to the media, saying that the unloading process will begin on 3 February.

The first consignment of rice under this open tender import from India arrived on January 20. At that time, the Vietnam-flagged vessel MV Puthan-36 brought 5,700 tons of rice.

According to the Mongla Food Controller's Office, Bangladesh is set to receive 300,000 tons of rice from India under the agreement, with 40% of it being unloaded at Mongla Port, while the rest will be handled at Chittagong Port.

Abdus Sobhan, assistant controller of the Directorate General of Food (Movement and Storage) at Mongla, told the media: "This is the second consignment of rice imported through an open tender from India to Mongla Port. The two ships have brought 16,400 tons of rice."

He added: "On Sunday, samples will be collected for physical testing, and the unloading process will commence on Monday."