Another 1.31 crore litres of palm oil reach Ctg port

A ship carrying 1.31 crore litres of palm oil on Friday arrived in the Chattogram port from Indonesia.

The oil has been imported by leading importer TK Group. 

Indonesia imposed an export ban on palm oil on 28 April, but the ship had left for Bangladesh a day before (27 April).

Another ship carrying 33 lakh litres of palm oil is now waiting at India's Krishnapatnam Port for unloading some oil there. The ship, which left for Bangladesh three days before the embargo took effect, will reach the Chattogram port on Saturday. The oil is being imported by Unilever. 

Earlier on Thursday, a ship with 1.22 crore litres of oil reached the port. Chattogram-based S Alam Group has imported the oil by the ship named "MT Sanjin 3025", according to sources at Chattogram port.

In this way, 2.86 crore litres of palm oil are coming to Bangladesh in three ships that left for Bangladesh before Indonesia's export ban came into effect.

On 30 April, Indonesia's navy seized two tankers carrying crude palm oil while being exported, violating the embargo. One of the two ships was bound for India. But no Bangladeshi ship was reported to have been stranded in the country's waterway. 

At least 20,000 tonnes of palm oil, in the process of being imported by Bangladesh, has been blocked due to Indonesia's export ban, according to importer sources.

According to the National Board of Revenue, Bangladeshi traders imported 120 million litres of palm oil from Indonesia between 1 April to 28 April.

Bangladesh imports about 1.3 million tonnes of palm oil annually, of which 90% is imported from Indonesia and the remaining 10% from Malaysia.