August 22, 2011

Russia to affect Pakistani wheat exports

Pakistani wheat exporters are unwilling to export because the presence of Russian wheat has exerted downward pressure on the prices of wheat in the global market.

 "Russia may export around eight million tonnes in July-September to different parts of the world, thus, causing a stiff competition in international markets", Chief Executive Officer Harvest Tradings Ahmad Jawad said on Thursday (Aug 18).

He said that Pakistani products were finding it hard to compete with lower priced wheat due to fierce competition by Russia.

"Pakistan is the third largest producer of wheat in Asia. After lifting the ban on wheat export in December last year, Pakistan has already exported wheat during the current year", Jawad added.

Jawad also said that the country had already exported around 1.75 million tonnes of wheat so far and it would export another two million tonnes of wheat this year out of the country's total production of 24.2 million tonnes for the current year.

Furthermore, he said that the expected stock of four to five million tonnes of wheat after the fresh crop will not benefit the country in terms of exports despite removal of ban as the international trade of Pakistani wheat has come to a complete halt.

"Pakistan does not have the infrastructure for its excess stocks, so domestic prices will likely be driven downward as Pakistan dumps its un-exported wheat in the home market", Jawad added.

Similarly, he said, Pakistan's 2010-11 season wheat crop output was likely to cross 24 million tonnes while there were around three million tonnes of carryover from the previous crop making the total surplus stock to around five million tonnes as the country's domestic consumption stands at around 22 million tonnes.