Raza Khan

Russia remained the largest exporter of wheat to Pakistan during the first half of the current fiscal, WealthPK reports. According to the Ministry of Commerce, Pakistan imported 620,927 tonnes of wheat worth $249.05 million from Russia during the first six months of the ongoing financial year. The total import of wheat by Pakistan was recorded at 1.371 million tonnes in the current year against 1.295 million tonnes in the first half of the previous fiscal, showing an increase of 5.86%. In terms of value, the wheat’s import also grew by 29.21% during the first six months of the current fiscal and rose to $606.23 million from $469.16 million in the corresponding period of the previous financial year. Romania remained the second largest source of wheat import for Pakistan during the period under review. Romania exported 241,763 tonnes of wheat worth $118.15 million to Pakistan in the ongoing financial year.

The country imported 234,298 tonnes of wheat worth $96 million from France in the period under review while the value of the commodity imported from Bulgaria was recorded at $93.85 million. The import of wheat from Ukraine dropped to $31.49 million during the first six months of the current fiscal from $394.44 million during the corresponding period of the previous financial year, showing a decline of 92%. Federal Secretary for Commerce Muhammad Sualeh Ahmad Faruqui told WealthPK that Pakistan has sufficient stock of wheat and does not need to import more grain in near future. “We have stock available in the country, enough for at least three months. There is no need to import more wheat as the local crop will also be ready in April,” he said.

The commerce secretary said that the country is not depending on limited sources for the import of wheat. “The government purchases wheat after evaluating quality, cost and transportation expenses from various countries,” he added. He said that the price of wheat varies from country to country and season to season. “Tariff is often determined by market forces from time to time,” he said. The government imports wheat through the Trading Corporation of Pakistan (TCP). TCP acts as a public sector trade house as it exports agricultural and consumer goods and imports essential commodities under specific directives of the government. The TCP also imports wheat and other essential food commodities on behalf of provinces.

According to the Ministry of Commerce, Ukraine remained Pakistan’s largest source of wheat import during the first six months of the previous fiscal as the country imported 1.071 million tonnes of wheat from it. Pakistan imported 2.14 million tonnes of wheat worth $793.13 million during the last fiscal. Pakistan imported the major portion of the wheat from Ukraine during the previous financial year, followed by Brazil and Russia. Pakistan imported a total of 1.464 million tonnes of wheat worth $545.29 million from Ukraine in the previous fiscal. The import of wheat from Brazil, Russia and Bulgaria was recorded at $66.15 million, $63.69 million and $61.83 million, respectively, during the previous financial year. Pakistan imported 3.486 million tonnes of wheat worth $975.72 million during the financial year 2020-21, according to the data available with WealthPK.

Credit : Independent News Pakistan-WealthPk