Bangladesh Commerce Minister Khandakar Abdul Muktadir pressed fruit traders in Dhaka on Saturday to accelerate letters of credit for imported produce. The push aims to curb surging retail prices.
Retail prices for imported sweet oranges, known locally as malta, climbed to Tk 520 per kilogram. That surge came despite regular landed costs and existing customs duty schedules. Muktadir met commercial traders and state regulatory bodies at the Secretariat to demand an explanation and outline immediate supply adjustments.
Traders blamed container shortfalls at maritime ports for the price spike. Weekly arrivals dropped to between 12 and 29 containers of sweet oranges. That falls far short of Bangladesh’s normal daily market consumption of roughly 15 containers.
Importers reported that compounding logistics costs, port turnaround delays, and steep import taxes forced businesses to curb order volumes. Financial losses suffered on earlier shipments also discouraged merchants from booking high-volume consignments for perishable items carrying high spoilage risks.
Muktadir instructed the Directorate of National Consumer Rights Protection to monitor retail markets and penalise vendors charging unjustified markups. He told traders the government will not tolerate speculative pricing on household fruit.
The Ministry of Commerce offered tariff relief to encourage fresh import financing through commercial banks. Muktadir pledged that the government will review the duty structure on sweet oranges. He also promised a formal decision on date duties and taxes within the week.
Fruit importers raised concerns over shipping windows for dates ahead of seasonal consumption cycles. International transit hurdles require early tax clarity to avoid supply bottlenecks.
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