On Monday, the Cabinet’s Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) approved proposals for the purchase of about 950 000 tonnes of wheat, including 450 000 tonnes from Russia at the same price of $372 per tonne. This brings the total amount of wheat sent to Pakistan this year to 750,000 tonnes, making Russia the sole supplier.
As per the CPEC framework agreement, the ECC meeting chaired over by Finance Minister Ishaq Dar also authorised changing the name of the revolving fund account for CPEC Independent Power Producers from “Pakistan Energy Revolving Fund” to “Pakistan Energy Revolving Account.”
The Ministry of National Food Security and Research published the outcomes of the 7th global wheat tender, which was launched on November 30, and an offer from a Russian business on a G2G basis, about wheat imports.
Keeping in view results of the tender and G2G offer, the ECC approved the lowest bid from M/s Cereal Crop Trading LLC at the rate of $372 per tonne for the supply of 130,000 tonnes at Karachi ports for the shipment period from Dec 16 to Feb 8, 2023, an official statement said.
The ECC also accepted a G2G bid from M/s Prodintorg, Russia for the supply of 450,000 tonnes to the Gwadar Port for the cargo period from February 1 to March 31, 2023, at a price of $372 per tonne. The Pakistan Agricultural Storage & Services Corporation Ltd (Passco) was chosen to bear any additional costs associated with interior transportation from Gwadar Port. The statement continued that these costs would be recovered from the provinces when the wheat stock is released.
The seventh wheat tender, for 500,000 tonnes, was announced by the Trading Corporation of Pakistan (TCP) on November 18. Nine businesses made bids, with Cereal Crop Trading offering the lowest price of $372 per tonne for 130,000 tonnes. The same rate was accepted by two additional bids for more than 300,000 tonnes as required by the procurement regulations.
This bid price calculated the anticipated cost at Karachi’s ports was determined to be Rs91,121 per tonne or Rs3,645 per 40kg. Russian Prodintorg also provided the same price in Gwadar or Karachi on a G2G basis. The validity period for both offers ended on Monday night.