Importers have booked around 300,000 tonnes of milling wheat after a duty cut earlier this year and orders for another 100,000 tonnes are expected in the coming days, an official said on Wednesday.
Wheat Commissioner Qadir Bux Baloch said that the importers have booked five cargoes of 50,000 tonnes each of Black Sea origin wheat, while two cargoes were booked from other origins, including Australia.
"Our estimate for the total import is around 500,000 tonnes so a few more cargoes will be booked in coming months," he added. Baloch said most of the imports would be needed in October and December, when the country starts planting new crop.
Omar Najib Balagamwalla, an executive of Pakistan-based Seatrade Group, told Reuters a first cargo of 50,000 tonnes of Russian wheat had reached Karachi on Tuesday.
Traders had bought wheat from Russia and Ukraine at $152-$156 a tonne, including cost and freight, he added.
Baloch said the harvest was sufficient to meet local demand, but imports would take pressure off the prices and replenish stocks.
Comments
Comments are closed.