HAMBURG: Bangladesh’s state grains buyer received the lowest bid of $407.79 a tonne CIF liner in a tender for purchasing 50,000 tonnes of rice that closed on Sunday, traders said in initial assessments on Monday.

Offers are still being considered and no purchase had yet been reported, they said.

Three trading houses submitted offers, they said.

The lowest offer was said to have been submitted by trading company PK Agrilink.

Trading house ECT was said to have offered $409.65 a tonne CIF liner out and AVI Trade offered $436.41 a tonne CIF liner out. Liner out prices include ship unloading costs.

The non-basmati parboiled rice sought in the tender can come from worldwide origins and shipment to two ports in Bangladesh is required 40 days after contract award.

Bangladesh has issued a series of rice tenders in recent months amid dwindling supplies and a surge in prices of the staple grain after floods damaged its crop.

Traditionally, the world’s third-biggest rice producer Bangladesh has emerged as a big importer owing to depleted stocks and record prices after the flooding last year.—Reuters