Mohammad Suman

Onion imports from alternative countries are on the rise due to the rising prices of Indian onions.

Construction of the tunnel under the Karnaphuli river reached a major milestone with completion of boring on Thursday afternoon.

Messrs Elias Brothers, popularly known as MEB, grew into one of the leading industrial conglomerates in Bangladesh in 1990s and was a darling of banks and financial institutions.

In 2017, the Chattogram Development Authority undertook an ambitious project to solve the perennial waterlogging problem in the country’s commercial capital in just three years.  

Import-related irregularities have gone down significantly after the National Board of Revenue (NBR) doubled the minimum penalty for evading duties, helping the government earn more in taxes.

Essential commodities such as edible oil, wheat and sugar have become costlier in Bangladesh as their prices rose in the international markets because of the supply crunch and increased shipping costs, hitting the pocketbooks of consumers.

Usmania Glass Sheet Factory Ltd (UGSFL), a state-owned glass manufacturer, resumed production yesterday after a one-year gap.

Consumers are paying more for edible oil as prices have risen in the international market due to increased shipping fare and reduced supply. Retailers say soybean oil prices in Bangladesh have gone up by up to 6 per cent, or Tk 5 to Tk 10, per litre last month.

Domestic production of diammonium phosphate, a widely used agricultural fertiliser, remains suspended since July 1, raising concerns over meeting its enormous domestic demand.

Wheat import has declined by 15 per cent, or 9.91 lakh tonnes, year-on-year in fiscal 2020-21 for international price hike and a fall in local demand due to the pandemic.

Custom House, Chattogram seized 50 tonnes of fabrics worth Tk 20 crore last week on finding evidence of it being imported forging seals and signatures of Customs Bond Commissionerate, Dhaka.

The Customs House, Chattogram (CHC) clocked 23.23 per cent higher year-on-year revenue growth in the just-concluded fiscal year, fetching home Tk 51,577 crore.

Abul Khair Group is now expanding providing oxygen for free to western districts, having given 80 large cylinders to Rajshahi Medical College Hospital last week.

The Bangladesh Trade and Tariff Commission (BTTC) has recommended the government extend the duty-free raw material import facility to the firms that sell a portion of their goods in overseas markets with a view to diversifying exports.

Many garment workers faced trouble yesterday as they walked to their workplaces in absence of public transport and for not having any transport arranged by the factories on the first day of a week-long strict countrywide lockdown.

Youngone Corporation, the Korean multinational conglomerate, yesterday launched the country’s largest rooftop solar power plant in its Korean Export Processing Zone (KEPZ) to meet its electricity demand through renewable sources.

Bangladesh is missing out on refining imported crude oil cheaply and saving valuable foreign currencies as it uses a plant that is more than half a century old and has failed to set up a new unit in a decade.

As the monsoon begins, traders in Khatunganj, the country’s largest wholesale hub for essential commodities, are fearing recurrence of the menace of waterlogging and subsequent losses as two projects involving nearly Tk 8,000 crore aimed at solving the problem of inundation in the port city are only halfway through.

The government has amended the Customs Act, doubling the penalty for providing incorrect information in import and export documents even though wrong declarations do not lead to any duty evasion.

Four corporate houses based in Chattogram have expressed willingness to extend their free oxygen supply support to Covid-19 patients and hospitals at border districts.