1,000 tonnes of wheat arrive at Akhaura from India

After two months since the last shipments of wheat through Akhaura at the end of May, wheat imports from India have started again through the land port in Brahmanbaria.

Forty trucks with 1,000 tonnes of wheat arrived at the land port yesterday.

Import of wheat from India started for the first time in August last year through the export-oriented Akhaura land port.

But, due to the Indian government's ban on wheat exports, no shipment of wheat arrived at the Akhaura land port after 30 May.

More than 14,000 tonnes of wheat, with LCs opened before the ban, got stuck.

Importer of the 1,000 tonnes of wheat, Sharda Traders of Tangail, will have the wheat shipment released from the port today.

Tarapad Das, representative of Sharda Traders, said the company opened a letter of credit (LC) before 12 May to import 2,500 tonnes of wheat.

The rest of the wheat will come in by today, he said.

Akhtar Hossain, proprietor of the port's C&F agent Adnan Trade International, which is overseeing the customs clearance of the shipment, said the import of wheat had started again as the road and rail communications between Tripura and other Indian states were normal now. 

The import cost of the wheat was $355 per tonne, he said. Since the taka has depreciated against the US dollar, the price of wheat would not decrease much in the market, he added.

As it was duty free, no duty was levied by the land customs station on the import of wheat.

However, the land port authorities will get a port entry fee and a parking fee for each wheat truck.

In June, road and rail connectivity between Tripura and Northeast India was also disrupted due to heavy rains and floods and so wheat trucks could not come to Agartala port.