International Trade

Around 700 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) of export containers missed scheduled shipment through Chattogram port on Thursday and Friday because of a three-day work abstention by the prime mover drivers and helpers in one of the 19 inland container depots (ICDs). On Wednesday, the container carrying prime movers stopped operations demanding appointment letters as recognition…

Bangladesh’s foreign exchange reserves fell below the $19 billion-mark for the first time in 11 months. It hit $18.26 billion today after the central bank settled $1.63 billion worth of import bills of two months through the Asian Clearing Union (ACU), an arrangement for settling transactions, Bangladesh Bank Spokesperson Md Mezbaul Haque told The Daily…

LafargeHolcim Bangladesh’s quarterly turnover and profits dropped for the first time since the January-March quarter of 2022 mainly due to shrinking demand amid high inflationary pressure. The listed multinational cement producer’s turnover fell 3 percent year-on-year to Tk 825 crore in the January-March quarter of 2024 when the profits slipped 15 percent year-on-year to Tk…

Bangladesh and Turkey can serve as the gateway of trade and business between Europe and South and Southeast Asia, said Mahbubul Alam, president of the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI). “Bangladesh and Turkey offer huge untapped potential of trade and business,” he said while addressing a visiting delegation from the Foreign…

British American Tobacco Bangladesh (BATB) saw a drop in its profits and sales in the January-March period of 2024, reasoning that people had cut back on smoking cigarettes amidst high inflationary pressure. The listed multinational tobacco company registered 4 percent lower sales year-on-year to Tk 9,389 crore in the first quarter of the current year. At…

Globally steel raw material prices are stable now, but Bangladesh will have to spend higher for its import because of the US dollar rate hike since the introduction of the crawling peg system, analysts said today. “Despite the stable international rates, the import cost of scrap steel will increase in Bangladesh as US dollar prices have…

Finance Minister Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali joined today’s cabinet committee meeting on public purchase virtually as the minister was infected with Covid-19, Cabinet Secretary for Coordination and Reforms Mahmudul Hossain Khan told The Daily Star. The minister also virtually joined the pre-budget meeting with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, according to the secretary. The finance minister…

The government has set a target to export goods and services worth $110 billion in the fiscal year of 2026-27, which is double the earnings recorded in the last financial year.  The cabinet committee on economic affairs approved the draft Export Policy prepared for 2023-24 to FY27 today. “It will now be placed at the…