By Staff Reporter
KARACHI: Pakistan received offers from 12 trading houses in a tender to buy 185,000 metric tons of wheat, with the lowest price believed to have come from Bunge Global SA at $339.36 a ton, according to European traders.
The bid, on a cost-and-freight basis, was for about 60,000 tons, the traders said, citing initial assessments of a tender that closed on Monday. The Trading Corporation of Pakistan, the state grain buyer, is still weighing the offers, and no purchase has been reported. A decision is expected in the coming days, the traders said. Prices and volumes could be revised as more details emerge.
The tender is the second in a month for a country that is turning to imports after a domestic harvest that fell short of demand. It arrives as fighting has cut off most Black Sea grain shipments, removing the cheap Russian and Ukrainian supply that importers in Asia and the Middle East typically rely on and leaving buyers to pay more for cargoes from other origins.
Bunge’s offer sits about $9.50 a ton below the $348.83 a ton at which the TCP bought 365,000 tons earlier this month, when it sought as much as 750,000 tons. The lowest price in the latest round is about 2.7% below that level.
The TCP issued the current tender to fill the balance of a reduced import target of 550,000 tons, after provinces scaled back their requirements. It had originally been authorized to bring in 750,000 tons. Winning bidders in the earlier tender must ship between Oct. 11 and Oct. 31, with cargoes due in Pakistan by Nov. 20.
The tender specifies delivery to Karachi or Gwadar, with a 10% tolerance on quantity either way, according to reports on the tender terms.
The bidders
Olam followed Bunge with an offer of $341.88 a ton, traders said, while Ameropa quoted $343.47 and Agrocorp $343.74. CHS came in at $345 and Mera at $346.19. LDC offered $346.50 for 120,000 tons, the only bid for a larger volume; every other house put forward 60,000 tons. Falconbridge quoted $347.49, Al Ghurair $349 and Saif $350.53. The highest prices came from Soufflet at $354.82 and Aston at $354.83, leaving a spread of $15.47 a ton between the lowest and highest offers.
In all, the bids covered 780,000 tons, more than four times the quantity sought.
Pakistan is buying at a time when supply from the Black Sea, the world’s cheapest source of wheat, has largely dried up. Ukrainian attacks have halted most Russian grain exports through the Black and Azov seas, with all three terminals at Novorossiysk suspending operations in August. Russia this month suspended its floating export duty on grain through the end of the year, citing the need to restructure logistics.
Russia and Ukraine together account for more than a quarter of global wheat exports. The disruption has pushed Chicago wheat futures to the highest since 2023.
Domestic conditions are also driving demand. Pakistan produced 29.61 million tons of wheat in the year through June, against annual consumption of about 31.3 million tons. Weak government procurement contributed to a run-up in flour prices, which reached as much as 170 rupees a kilogram in parts of the country.
The government approved the import plan last month. Under the arrangement, Sindh was to receive 300,000 tons, Punjab 250,000 tons and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa 200,000 tons. The government cleared the purchase on the condition of a pre-shipment inspection and that provinces either pay their share upfront or allow the Finance Ministry to deduct it from federal transfers. The state stockpile has thinned. The Pakistan Agricultural Storage and Services Corporation held 1.783 million tons in early July.
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