September 9, 2010

Pakistan delays wheat export plans

The Pakistani government has shelved plans to export two million tonnes of wheat due to an estimated loss of about one million tonnes in the floods.

An official said on Wednesday (Sep 8) that Punjab had asked the federal government not to consider its earlier wheat export proposal.

He said Punjab's three major wheat producing districts - Rajanpur, Rahimyar Khan and Muzaffargarh - had been badly affected and stocks in government warehouses had been inundated. Private stocks of producers have also been damaged.

The provincial food department has reported a loss of about 550,000 tonnes of wheat, although final estimates are still being worked out. Another 80,000 tonnes have been washed away in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

The official said the estimates of stocks lost in Sindh had not yet been prepared as several areas in the province were still inundated, but the overall losses were likely to be around one million tonnes.

Officials said there was no cause of concern in the local market because the government had sufficient stocks to meet domestic requirements.

For the past couple of years, the government has been maintaining about one million tons of buffer stocks to meet any shortage.

The government had decided in July to export two million tonnes of wheat, but rescinded the decision because of lower international prices. The exports required about Rs15-billion subsidy and the Economic Coordination Committee of the cabinet vetoed the export proposal, saying the amount should be passed on to consumers.

The next wheat sowing begins in October.