By Staff Reporter
KARACHI: The Trading Corporation of Pakistan, the state-run trading agency, issued an international tender on Wednesday inviting global suppliers to bid for 750,000 metric tons of wheat from the 2026 harvest, as the government moves to shore up domestic supplies after provinces flagged tightening stockpiles ahead of the winter months.
The purchase will be made on a cost-and-freight basis, with cargoes delivered in bulk to the ports of Karachi and Gwadar. Deliveries are scheduled for November.
The tender came after a committee led by Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar approved imports of as much as 1 million tons after provincial governments pressed for additional supplies.
Under the tender terms, suppliers must offer a minimum of 50,000 tons each, with a quantity variation of plus or minus 10% at the government’s discretion. The corporation said it won’t accept bids for smaller volumes, a threshold designed to ensure suppliers can deliver substantial cargoes within the required shipping window.
Bids are due by 11:30 a.m. on September 16, with technical bids opened at noon the same day at the corporation’s board room in Karachi. Bidders may attend the opening in person or via video link. Sealed bids must separate technical and financial components into distinct envelopes and be submitted at the corporation’s reception counter at the Finance & Trade Centre on Shahrah-e-Faisal.
The wheat must meet quality specifications set out in the tender and align with Pakistan’s Import Policy Order. Suppliers can bid directly or through local representatives registered with federal or provincial tax authorities, and must show they can source bulk wheat from anywhere in the world.
Once landed, the wheat will be split among three provinces based on demand. Sindh is set to receive the largest share, at 300,000 tons, followed by Punjab with 250,000 tons and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa with 200,000 tons.
The tender underscores the gap between what Pakistan grows and what it consumes. The country’s annual wheat consumption runs to about 31.3 million tons, while production in the last fiscal year totaled 29.61 million tons, according to the government’s Economic Survey for 2025-26. That shortfall has left the country reliant on imports to maintain adequate reserves, particularly as provincial stocks come under pressure.
Government reserves offer only a partial cushion. The Pakistan Agricultural Storage and Services Corporation, the state body responsible for maintaining strategic grain stocks, held 1.783 million tons of wheat as of the first week of July, according to figures cited by officials.
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