Pakistan will import 0.180 MMT of wheat from Russia on, as part of an arrangement to increase supplies, informed the Ministry of National Food Security & Research on Friday.

The Pakistani government is ready to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Moscow for the supply of grain on a government-to-government basis, said the ministry in a statement.

The government-owned Pakistan Agricultural Storage & Services Corporation Ltd (PASSCO), has been nominated as a procurement agency.

Cabinet has already approved the MoU, whereas shipments from Russia are likely to arrive in November, informed the ministry. The pre-checking of the wheat will be completed in Russia and later on quality inspection will be done by the Department of Plant Protection (DPP) as per their SOPs at Karachi port.

The lowest price offered in the tender from Pakistan to purchase 300,000 tonnes of wheat which closed last week was believed to be $280.90 a tonne c&f for Russian wheat, European traders said.

The state agency Trading Corporation of Pakistan (TCP) is still considering the offers and no purchase has been reported, traders said.