Skip to content
  • Our data is copyright protected — copying without permission is prohibited
  • We handle no money, ever
  • No business is promoted for payment
  • Tell us if something is wrong — we check and fix it
AyRojgar
More stories
What went wrongRice importers and wholesalers at the Hili land port, in a Bangla Tribune report

A 3-4 taka margin flips to a 2-3 taka loss, with 100-plus trucks stuck at the port

Demand at the Hili land port halved in four or five days, leaving more than a hundred loaded rice trucks unsold and turning a 3-4 taka per kg margin into a 2-3 taka loss.

Importers bringing rice through the Hili land port in Dinajpur had been making 3-4 taka per kg. Demand then halved within four or five days and more than a hundred loaded trucks stood at the port with no buyers. Within two days coarse Swarna fell 2 taka to 51 per kg, medium BRRI-28 fell 2 taka to 58, and fine Shampa Katari fell 3 taka to 67. The rice had already been paid for, so it now has to go at a 2-3 taka per kg loss. Arrivals normally run at 50-70 trucks a day and sometimes over a hundred; across the period 2,694 trucks carrying 109,816 tonnes had come through. In bulk trading the whole risk sits in the few days between paying and selling.

Lessons

  1. 1.A 3-4 taka margin becomes a loss on a 2-3 taka price move: thin-margin bulk trading leaves no room for a turn
  2. 2.Goods already paid for cannot be unwound; the risk lives in the days between payment and sale

Published with the person's permission, without revealing who they are.

Discussion

Nobody has written yet. Be the first.