Maize imports into Bangladesh are rising with demand from the animal feed industry, and after about eight years the United States is back in the market, supplying about 6 percent of the maize imported in the 2025-26 marketing year.

According to the US Department of Agriculture's Grain and Feed Update published this month, Bangladesh imported more than 1.74 million tonnes of maize in marketing year 2026, about 111,000 tonnes of it from the United States. The first shipment of US maize reached Chattogram port in the first week of January this year.

Brazil remains the largest supplier with about 68 percent of imports, followed by India with 24 percent. An earlier USDA report showed Brazil supplying about 93 percent of the previous year's imports, with Argentina at 4 percent and Pakistan at 2 percent.

India was long a leading supplier thanks to lower prices, easy transport and quick delivery, but it cut maize exports from 2024 after moving to raise biofuel production, making Brazilian supply even more important.

The return of US maize is seen as part of wider efforts to expand trade between the two countries, with Bangladesh moving to import more farm and other goods from the United States to improve the trade balance.

USDA's latest estimate is that Bangladesh's private sector may import about 1.8 million tonnes of maize this marketing year, about 3.4 percent more than last year, and with the United States alongside Brazil and India, the private sector gains a new commercial route for sourcing maize.

Photo: Danielgrad / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)

Source: Protidiner Sangbad