Importers Reject Govt Wheat Plan Over Billions in Losses

Pakistan’s private wheat importers have rejected reports that the government is considering importing wheat through the Trading Corporation of Pakistan (TCP), warning that the move could result in billions of rupees in losses and reverse the country’s wheat market deregulation policy.

The Cereal Association of Pakistan (CAP) urged the government to allow the private sector to import four million tonnes of wheat in two phases, with two million tonnes in each phase, without any subsidy or public financing. The association said market-driven imports are more efficient and place no burden on the national exchequer.

CAP Chairman Muzzamil Chappal said the government should maintain the wheat deregulation policy introduced two years ago and avoid intervening in the market. He noted that the private sector had successfully imported 2.7 million tonnes of wheat in FY2023-24 without subsidies, helping stabilize supplies and reducing wheat prices from Rs. 123 per kilogram to Rs. 95 per kilogram.

He added that July and August are an ideal time for imports because the Black Sea and South American harvest seasons offer competitive international prices. Chappal also claimed Pakistan currently holds around 450,000 tonnes of two-year-old wheat, while stocks stored by the Pakistan Agricultural Storage and Services Corporation (PASSCO) are deteriorating in warehouses.

According to the association, wholesale wheat prices in Karachi currently range between Rs. 116 and Rs. 120 per kilogram and could climb to Rs. 125 per kilogram if imports are delayed. Allowing timely private-sector imports, it argued, could lower prices to Rs. 95 to Rs. 100 per kilogram.

Meanwhile, Sindh Food Minister Makhdoom Mehboob uz Zaman chaired a meeting with representatives of the Flour Mills Association to review wheat and flour supplies. He directed millers to keep flour prices as low as possible and said the provincial government had intensified operations against wheat hoarding, profiteering, and illegal trading.

The minister said the Sindh Food Department currently holds 446,947 tonnes of wheat, including carryover stocks, wheat procured during the current season, and grain recovered through anti-hoarding operations. He also said there are no restrictions on the inter-district movement of wheat within Sindh, ensuring uninterrupted supplies across the province.