By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s state-run grain trader has reopened bidding for about 108,000 metric tons of surplus imported sugar, scrapping the minimum price that drew no offers the first time.
The Trading Corp. of Pakistan is inviting foreign buyers and exporters to bid with no reserve price, according to tender documents. The white refined sugar was imported in 2025 and is stored at the agency’s Pipri warehouse in Karachi. The federal government approved the sale, which is the second attempt after the first tender failed.
The first tender set a uniform reserve of $660 a ton, or Rs184,800 at an exchange rate of Rs280 per dollar, across all 11 lots, for a total reserve value of Rs19.91 billion ($71.1 million). White sugar was trading internationally at around $505 to $515 a ton at the time, leaving the floor well above the market. TCP cut the earnest-money requirement to 2% from 10% to widen participation, but no bids came in when the tender was opened on Sept. 30. That tender also required buyers to lift the full contracted quantity within 45 days of award. The new one allows 90 days.
TCP wants the stock gone before fresh supply arrives. The government had planned to export it before the next cane-crushing season starts in November.
Under the new tender, the stock comprises 96,000 tons of fine-grain sugar and 11,086 tons of medium-grain. Bidders can quote for either or both, with minimum lots of 10,000 tons for fine-grain and 11,086 tons for medium-grain. A pre-bid meeting is set for Nov. 11. Bids are due by 11 a.m. on Nov. 13 and will be opened at 11:30 a.m. at TCP’s principal office in Karachi. Offers must stay valid for 72 working hours after the deadline.
Prices are to be quoted in dollars a ton on an ex-works basis, with buyers covering loading and transport. Successful bidders must also pay all applicable taxes, levies and duties, including sales tax and further tax where it applies, on top of the export value.
Payment can be made in full in advance in foreign currency to TCP’s designated account, or through an irrevocable letter of credit payable at sight. Either must be in place before a delivery order is issued. Buyers will bear all bank, confirmation, amendment and clearance charges. TCP may levy storage and demurrage charges on stock not lifted within 90 days of bid acceptance.
Bureau Veritas surveyed and tested the stock in September. Prospective buyers can inspect it at Pipri on working days from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. until the deadline. TCP will weigh eligibility, compliance with tender terms, price and quantity, and may split the stock among several winners. It reserves the right to accept or reject any or all bids. Bidders with unpaid dues or outstanding contractual obligations to TCP are ineligible unless they settle before bids are opened, and firms facing blacklisting proceedings are barred.
The stockpile is what is left of a purchase the government has since reversed. TCP imported 300,000 tons between September and November 2025, after authorizing imports of up to 500,000 tons to ease a domestic shortage. About 192,000 tons were sold locally, leaving roughly 108,000 tons with TCP. The food security ministry told the Economic Coordination Committee that two attempts to sell the remainder at home had failed because domestic prices had fallen. The government waived about 53% in import taxes to bring the sugar in.
The shortage followed the government’s earlier decision to let mills export 790,000 tons, which, together with a 15% drop in output, pushed prices to Rs220 a kilogram. They have since fallen to an average of Rs148, about 18% below a year earlier, the Express Tribune reported in August.
The ECC, chaired by Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb, approved the export tender on Aug. 19. The Express Tribune said the decision breaches Pakistan’s commitment to the International Monetary Fund to end government intervention in commodity markets, and warned it risked pushing local prices higher. About three weeks later, a sugar steering committee led by Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar allowed a further 200,000 tons of exports, the newspaper reported.
TCP’s tender covers only state-held stock, not the larger inventories at private mills. The Pakistan Sugar Mills Association put national stocks at 3.171 million tons on July 31 and estimated domestic demand at about 1.974 million tons through Nov. 15.
Global prices have firmed since the first tender. December white sugar futures in London settled at $519.20 a ton on Oct. 27, according to market commentary. With no reserve in place, the outcome now depends on what buyers will pay for stock the government has twice failed to sell at home.
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