KARACHI: Over 2.5 million tonnes of imported wheat was handled at the Karachi Port Trust (KPT) in the last four months, a port official said on Friday.
Meanwhile, the Trading Corporation of Pakistan (TCP) on Friday floated an international tender relating to further import of 300,000 tonnes of grain.
Pakistan imported 2.9m tonnes of wheat at a cost of $794m to the national kitty during July-Jan 2020-21. The average per tonne price of the grain stood at $273 per tonne, figures of the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) revealed.
The country allowed bulk imports of wheat by the public and private sector from the last week of Aug 2020 to curb soaring flour prices. However, this government initiative did not prove beneficial for the consumers who continue to pay Rs72 per kg for various flour varieties amid availability of local crop all over the country which arrived in March/April 2020. The new crop will hit the markets in March/April 2021.