Ctg customs to re-auction goods

Chittagong Customs House yesterday re-auctioned 93 tonnes of imported apples and ginger that remained unclaimed since mid-October this year.

These goods were previously auctioned on December 17, Monday but authorities did not get expected price, reports our correspondent.

Assistant Commissioner (AC) Nazmul Hoque for the auction department of Chittagong Customs House confirmed it to The Daily Star.

“We decided to re-auction again,” Nazmul said hoping for higher prices, adding that the previous prices were lower than 13 percent of the reserve value.

Customs officials suspect bidders at the first auction acted as a syndicate and offered very low prices.

The body started auctioning off 4 containers of imported goods of Monday.

The reserve value for the total quantity was set by the authority at Tk 75.10 lakh while the first auction reached upto Tk 9.60 lakh, according to the auction department.

The highest price for apple was offered at Tk 13.33 per kg while the reserve value was set at Tk 85 per kg, AC Nazmul said adding average highest price for ginger was offered at Tk 9.28  per kg while average reserve value for was set at Tk 79.28 per kg.

The same quality apple was sold at Tk 45 per Kg and ginger at Tk 40 during an auction held on October 15 this year.

The highest bidders were Al Murad for apple while three highest bidders for 3 containers of ginger were Hasan Ali, Selim Chowdhury and Moinuddin Azad.

Only seven out of 50 bidders offered prices while others remained silent. 

The authorities earlier issued several letters to the importers for taking the goods but were forced to auction them off after failing to get response.