After Long Gap, U.S. Corn Arrives at Chittagong Port

PNN Staff Report

After nearly seven and a half years, a large shipment of corn from the United States has arrived in Bangladesh. On Wednesday morning, the unloading of corn began at the Confidence Cement Jetty in Chittagong Port.

The shipment contains approximately 57,855 tons of corn. The total cost of this import was around USD 14.2 million, equivalent to about BDT 1.75 billion. The shipment was jointly imported by feed-producing companies Nahar Agro Group, Paragon Group, and Narish Poultry and Hatchery Limited.

Previously, the last U.S. corn import occurred in July 2018. Since then, corn mostly arrived from South American countries. A brief ceremony was held at Confidence Cement Jetty to mark this import, attended by Erin Covert, the Agricultural Attaché of the U.S. Embassy in Bangladesh. She stated that the corn was produced in the recent season, meets international standards, and importers are assured of its quality.

According to the U.S. Embassy, the shipment was sent from the Vancouver port in Washington State. United Grain Corporation, a leading U.S. grain exporter, supplied the corn. This corn is expected to help meet the nutritional demand of livestock in Bangladesh.

Customs sources stated that the cost of transporting the U.S. corn to Chittagong Port was approximately USD 246 per ton, slightly cheaper than corn imported from Brazil. The shipment was brought on the vessel ‘MV Beltokio,’ initially anchored offshore and then transported in stages via smaller vessels to the jetty. From there, cranes loaded the corn onto trucks to be sent to the importers’ warehouses.