Bangladesh sugar officials said on Monday they could not award contracts to import 50,000 tonnes of white sugar for July shipment through lack of authorisation.
"It was not possible to award the job as we did not get any decision in this regard from the cabinet purchase committee," said a senior official of the state-owned Bangladesh Sugar and Food Industries Corporation (BSFIC).
"The validity of the tender automatically ceased to exist after expiry of time (for awarding the job)," said the official, who asked not to be named.
The time expiry was the official added. Traders on Monday said cabinet did not approve the three consecutive tenders of the BSFIC, apparently to encourage imports by the private sector as the BSFIC had asked for subsidies from the government to remain competitive in the market.
Traders said on Saturday that Sudden of France had made the lowest offer at tender of $278.23 per tonne C&F to import 50,000 tonnes of white sugar for July shipment.
Sudden was lowest in the both groups among four companies that participated in the tender floated by the BSFIC, with prices ranging between $278.23 and $290.88, the traders said.
The sugar was scheduled to be delivered at Chittagong port in four equal consignments of 12,500 tonnes each on July 6, July 12, July 18 and July 25.
The BSFIC also did not award contracts for its two earlier tenders, which were opened on May 8 and May 15.
Comments
Comments are closed.