By Staff Reporter
KARACHI: Pakistan’s state-owned Trading Corporation is seeking to buy as much as 100,000 metric tons of rice for export to Bangladesh, the latest sign of warming ties between the two South Asian nations amid Dhaka’s push to secure food supplies and cool domestic prices.
The tender, issued Nov. 20, calls for sealed bids from suppliers for long-grain white rice known as IRRI-6, to be shipped as break-bulk cargo through Karachi ports. Bids must be submitted by 11:30 a.m. on Nov. 28, with price offers valid for 21 working days and shipments required within 45 days of contract award, according to the document.
Suppliers can bid for a minimum of 25,000 tons or multiples thereof, up to the full 100,000 tons with a 5% variance margin. The rice must come from Pakistan’s latest crop, be of local origin and fit for human consumption, free of unpleasant odors, mold, poisonous seeds, insects or infestation.
The move comes as Bangladesh ramps up imports to stabilise local markets, issuing another rice tender on Monday after a string of similar procurements in recent weeks. Traders view Pakistan’s offer as an effort to insert its rice into Bangladesh’s supply chain, even as market participants expect Indian-origin grains to fulfill some of Dhaka’s recent buys.
Islamabad and Dhaka have stepped up economic engagement since the August 2024 removal of former Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, ending decades of strained relations. Direct government-to-government trade kicked off in February with Pakistan supplying 50,000 tons of rice. At last month’s ninth Joint Economic Commission meeting, Pakistan proposed letting Bangladesh use Karachi Port Trust as a transit hub for trade with China and Central Asian countries.
The tender underscores challenges in Pakistan’s rice sector, where exports plunged 28% in the first quarter of fiscal 2026, stoking industry worries over policy hurdles eroding competitiveness. A Rice Exporters Association of Pakistan official blamed the drop on India’s 2024 resumption of rice exports, scrapping of the basmati minimum export price and zero-rating of duties.
Still, Pakistani shippers steered clear of a head-on price battle, holding onto premium market segments over the subsequent six months through March 2025. A US imposition of 50% tariffs on Indian goods, including basmati rice, in August has opened doors for Pakistan to grab more American market share. Between November 2023 and October 2024, the US made up 24% of Pakistan’s total basmati exports, according to data from Volza’s Global Trade platform.
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