May 31, 2010

The Punjab government has asked the federal government to see options of wheat export to neighbouring Afghanistan.

Rising prices of wheat in Afghanistan has created hopes for exporters who have record inventory of the commodity with them. The biggest stock holder of wheat has been public sector, including Punjab province.

According to an estimate, provincial Food Department alone will have surplus stock of at least 2.7 million tonnes of wheat till arrival of next crop in 2011. Similarly, Pakistan Storage and Services Corporation (Passco) and Food Department Sindh also carry at least two million tonnes of additional wheat. Disposal of huge and unprecedented surplus stocks of grain has turned out to be an utmost priority for Pakistan due to multiple factors. Because of enormous financing and incidental costs, public sector departments are under extreme pressure to dispose of these stocks. Insufficient storage facilities available with public sector departments further deteriorate the already tangled situation.

However, premium quality Pakistani wheat could not find any buyer in the world during last one year or so. Meanwhile, Punjab Food Department has so far procured about 3.69 million tonnes of wheat from growers.

Till now, the department distributed gunny bags for packing 3.71 million tonnes of wheat and it is stated that procurement will be ended by tomorrow, May 31.

A senior official of the Food Department acknowledged that 45-day wheat procurement campaign would be completed by the end of May. It is a long time as far as wheat buying operation is concerned. He maintained that the department would continue its procurement drive for the next few days.

Meanwhile, sources claimed that Punjab Food Department would be able to buy around 3.78 million tones wheat in present procurement campaign.