Indian grain traders have contracted to import 20,000 tonnes of Pakistani wheat and they are waiting for New Delhi to issue import permits before starting shipments, a leading regional grains trader said on Friday. "The permits could come anytime now," Vijay Iyengar, managing director of Agrocorp International Pte Ltd, told Reuters in an interview.
"There is a possibility that up to 150,000 tonnes of Pakistani wheat will come to India." Pakistan, seeking to cut bulging wheat stocks, is seen offering up to 2 million tonnes of the grain for export this year. It has already allowed the sale of 800,000 tonnes by private traders and removed a 15-percent duty on exports.
Pakistan had stopped wheat exports in May 2003 after domestic supplies ran short. Last year, Indian authorities suggested bartering their sugar for Pakistani wheat, but the proposal did not go anywhere.
Pakistan did buy half its sugar imports from India that year, following the removal of a four-year ban on Indian sugar after an improvement in relations between the countries. "There are a lot of inquiries from Indian traders for Pakistani wheat. The bulk the wheat from Pakistan is expected to come in containers," Iyengar said. He added that most deals for Pakistan wheat were expected to be finalised around $230 a tonne, including cost and freight.
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