First Sea Export of Mangoes and Jackfruits from Bangladesh Opens New Horizons in Foreign Markets

Staff Reporter | PNN:

For the first time, Bangladesh has exported mangoes and jackfruits via sea. This step marks a new phase in the country’s agricultural exports, which until now were shipped only by air.

According to the Plant Quarantine Centre at Chittagong Port, a total of 39,141 kg of mangoes were exported by sea during the recently concluded season to six countries. Of this, 17,877 kg went to the United Kingdom, 14,580 kg to the United Arab Emirates, 3,834 kg to the United States, 1,950 kg to Italy, 504 kg to Belgium, and 396 kg to Canada.

Md. Shah Alam, Deputy Director of the Plant Quarantine Centre, noted, “The quality of fresh mangoes sent to Dubai was slightly below standard, but the mangoes sent in frozen form to other countries maintained good quality.”

Mohammad Arifur Rahman, Project Director of Exportable Mango Production, said, “Previously, the production of export-quality mangoes was low. Now, with farmers’ cooperation, the production of good-quality mangoes has increased, making sea exports possible this year.”

Sea export has also been introduced for jackfruits. In May, a private company in Dhaka sent 3,500 kg of jackfruits to Dubai via sea for the first time. The container took 26 days to reach its destination, but the jackfruits remained almost intact.

From a cost perspective, sea transport is more profitable. Exporting fruits by air costs about 160 BDT per kg, while using a 30–32-ton container by sea costs 350,000–400,000 BDT in total, which equals approximately 13–14 BDT per kg. However, longer transit times pose a risk of quality degradation, necessitating modern processing and storage facilities.

For jackfruits, air transport still dominates. Out of 1,531 metric tons exported this season, only 3.5 metric tons were shipped by sea. Bangladesh primarily exports jackfruits to the Middle East, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Sweden, and Ireland. Due to faster delivery, air transport remains the preferred method for exporters.