August 23, 2004

Pakistan To Buy 450,000 MT Wheat, Below Original Plan

State-run Trading Corp. of Pakistan plans to buy 450,000 metric tons of wheat in its second import tender, lower than originally planned 500,000 tons.

A tender notice issued Sunday said the corporation "invites bid for import of 450,000 tons soft white or medium hard white wheat U.S. grade 2 or Australian white milling wheat/Canadian Wheat."

On Friday, a senior official of TCP said the grain body plans to buy 500,000 tons in its second tender, but the final quantity in the tender issued at the weekend was lower.

The tender will close Aug. 30 with offers valid from several sources including the U.S., Australia, Russia and Canada.

The tender comes almost two weeks after the grain body finalized orders to buy 484,000 metric tons of wheat from four international trading firms.

The last tender was finalized at an average price of $210 a ton C&F with 150,000 tons of Russian, 100,000 tons of Australian and 234,000 tons of U.S. wheat.

Pakistan started importing after the country's wheat production in the current season was projected to fall to 19.7 million tons, below the targeted 20 million tons.