Stone import declines as price soars, supply shrinks

A syndicate of Indian stone exporters have dealt a double blow to the Bangladeshi importers, increasing the prices of stone and, at the same time, reducing the quantity of exports through the Hili land port in Dinajpur.

As a result, stone prices are increasing in the local market.

Due to the increased cost and massive decline in import, Bangladeshi stone importers are at a loss over how to meet the huge demand of stones required for different ongoing mega projects, said the importers.

Stone is imported from India to meet the demand of various mega projects including Dhaka Metrorail and Rooppur nuclear power plant, they added.

At present, per tonne of imported 5/6 and 3/4 sized stones is being sold at Tk3,750 per tonne at Hili land port which was Tk3,600 few days ago; and half inch stones are being sold at Tk3,250 per tonne which was earlier Tk3,200.

Nazmul Hossain, who came to the land port to buy stones, said, "The price of stone has gone up by Tk150 per tonne. Earlier, I could buy choosing from a variety of stones, but now the quality is not very good while the quantity is much less.

Besides, the transportation cost is also high. For this reason, it will not be profitable if I buy stones from here."

Aminul Islam, a stone importer at the port, said, "Work on various projects in different parts of the country was halted after the beginning of the corona pandemic in March 2020. After the pandemic situation improved, implementation of those projects resumed, increasing the demand for stone in the country's market more than before. In the backdrop of this growing demand, a syndicate of Indian stone exporters has increased its prices along with reducing the volume of export."

"We are contracted to supply stones to various projects, but due to the increased prices coupled with low quantity of stones, we are not able to supply as per the demand. The buyers are not paying our arrears as we are failing to supply stones as per the agreement," he added.

He said, "Increasing the prices all of a sudden is nothing new for the Indian stone exporters. Whenever the demand for stone increases in Bangladesh, they syndicate and reduce the export of showing various lame excuses; only to increase the price on that pretext."

Another importer Idris Ali Mithu said, "There was a problem with serials inside India. Other goods-laden trucks including onions have to pay Tk5,000 to Tk6,000 to get the serial to enter the country. A complication has arisen as stone-laden trucks do not pay the money to get serial. Due to this, import of stone through the port has decreased."

"Earlier, more than 100 trucks of stones were imported, but now, only 40 to 50 trucks of stone are imported," he added.

Haroon Ur Rashid, president of the Hili Land Port Import Exporters Group, said, "The government is importing stones to implement various ongoing mega projects. In addition, the demand for stone has increased due to its use in the construction of various roads and houses. The import of stone from India has been declining for some time now due to the massive congestion created on the other side of the border which is causing load unloading problems."

SM Nurul Alam Khan, revenue officer of Hili Land Customs Station, said, "On an average, 180 to 200 trucks of various types of goods including onion, stone, wheat, maize, khail and bran are imported through Hili land port. Among these trucks, 70 to 80 trucks carry stones. This number was higher a few days ago, but now it has come down a bit."