KARACHI: Traders are pushing the government to permit the export of wheat and related products as the resolution to the caretakers’ wheat import crisis is still pending.
According to Muzammil Chappal, the chairman of the Cereal group of Pakistan (CAP), the nation has an excess of 3.9 million tonnes of wheat, and the group has requested that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif permit its export right now.
He said that the nation’s wheat inventories total 36 million tonnes, much above its yearly use of 32 million tonnes (31.4 million tonnes from domestic production and 4.6 million tonnes from carry-over stock).
Growers have not received satisfactory pricing for their produce up to this point, therefore Mr. Chappal said wheat exports would help them achieve decent prices.
Additionally, he notified the Ministry of National Food Security and Research that 500,000 tonnes of wheat exports would bring in $140 million based on the preliminary freight-on-board (FOB) rate of $260 per tonne, while 250,000 tonnes of maida and fine flour would bring in $87 million each based on the FOB rate of $350 per tonne.
The association’s members are prepared to play their part and have some possible clients in the surrounding countries, he said, so the ministry may decide on the quantity and time frame for exporting wheat and related products.
According to Mr. Chappal, Pakistan only has the months of June through August to sell wheat and related items at a profit.
With approval from the interim administration, Pakistan’s private industry bought 3.536 million tons of grain—worth over $1 billion—from Russia and Ukraine between September 2023 and April of this year.
