S Alam Group to import 58,500 tonnes of onion
Meghna Group will also import 15,000 tonnes
S Alam Group is going to import 58,500 tonnes of onion from Egypt and Turkey to mitigate the existing crisis of the key cooking ingredient in the country.
The onions will be imported by air and sea routes, according to a press release issued by the organisation on Thursday.
To this end, S Alam Group has already opened letters of credit (LCs) for importing the onions using bulk and container. As the import of onion through the sea route is time-consuming, they have already started the import by air.
Some 1750 tonnes of onion will be imported through passenger and cargo planes. Of the total amount, 105 tonnes arrived at the Shahjalal International Airport on Thursday evening. Another 55 tonnes are expected to arrive by Friday evening, the press release said.
S Alam also booked 10 cargoes, each having capacity of 105 tonnes, to continue the onion import in future.
"We have already opened LCs to import onion by air in order to solve the ongoing onion crisis," Vice-chairman of S Alam Group Abdus Salam Labu told The Business Standard.
The shipments of onion will start coming to Dhaka from tonight, he said adding that onions through the sea route will also reach Bangladesh soon.
On the other hand, Meghna Group will also import 15,000 tonnes of onion.
Meghna Group, in another press release, said they will import 12-15 thousand of tonnes through the sea route after they get the first shipment from Turkey on Friday.
Earlier on Wednesday evening, Shad Enterprise brought 82 tonnes of onions from Pakistan for the first time. The government has already taken initiatives to sell these onions through the Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB).
S Alam Group and Meghna Group said their imported onions will also be sold through the TCB.
