231,840 More Eggs Imported From India

Another 231,840 chicken eggs, priced at Tk7.5 each, have been imported from India, through the Benapole land port in Jessore. From November 5 of last year until Saturday, a total of 989,310 eggs have been imported in five consignments.

On Saturday at around 9pm, the fifth consignment of 231,840 eggs arrived at the Benapole port.

By next month, 4 million more eggs will be imported to fulfill the government's first announcement of importing 5 million eggs. So far, 989,310 eggs have been imported.

To address the shortage, the government has approved the import of an additional 45 million. eggs, which will also be brought in gradually.

According to the importing company, each egg was purchased from India at a price of Tk5.70. The import duty per egg is Tk1.83, making the total cost of each egg slightly above Tk7.5.

The importers have urged the government to waive the import duty on eggs, similar to what was done for onions and potatoes.

According to sources from the Benapole Customs House, during the current fiscal year, five consignments of 989,310 chicken eggs were imported from India through Benapole port.

The importing company, Hydro Land Solutions based in Dhaka, brought in these eggs.

Shah Alam, a representative of Hydro Land Solutions, said, "The Ministry of Commerce granted permission to import 5,000,000 eggs within two months. This permission period ended on September 10 of last month. During this time, we were only able to import approximately 300,000 eggs in two consignments due to the challenging state conditions. Following an appeal, the ministry extended the deadline by another two months, which will now end in November."

He added, "Each egg was bought at Tk5.70 from India, but we are paying Tk1.83 in duty per egg (including other expenses). If this duty were reduced to below 50 poisha, the price of eggs in the market would drop significantly."

They have written to the government, requesting a duty waiver for eggs, as was done for onions and potatoes.

The exporting company for the eggs is Kolkata's "Shri Laxmi Enterprise."

On behalf of the importer, C&F agent Ratul Enterprise has submitted the necessary documents to Customs for clearing the consignment.

According to traders, while each egg is imported at a cost of Tk7.5, additional expenses for transportation, labor, and wastage (damaged eggs) increase the cost by at least Tk3 per egg.

The imported eggs are being sold at a wholesale price of Tk10.60 to Tk10.70 per egg.

Masudur Rahman, a revenue officer at Benapole Customs' Cargo Checkpost Branch, said, "Including customs duty, the cost per imported egg stands at approximately Tk7.5. The first consignment arrived on November 5 of last year, and the second consignment arrived on September 9 of this year.”

He added, “Three more consignments arrived on October 6, 7, and 19 from India. Last year, Dhaka's BDS Corporation also imported 61,950 eggs from India at the same price."

Egg prices in Bangladesh have surged over the past few years, reaching up to Tk15 per egg in 2024.

This is partly due to production disruptions from severe floods that caused a reduction in daily egg output by 50 lakh eggs.

The cost of poultry feed, which is significantly higher in Bangladesh than in India, has also contributed to the price hike.