SINGAPORE, July 12: Pakistan is likely to finalize wheat import deals this week — the first ones since it abolished duties on the grain earlier this month, traders in Singapore, Hong Kong and Pakistan said on Tuesday.

Pakistan’s plan to import for the first time in more than three months of up to 700,000 tons of wheat has prompted exporters from Poland to Ukraine to queue up to sell cargoes, giving Pakistan an upper hand to negotiate competitive deals.

At the same time, it’s giving a headache to traditional grain suppliers who are facing a tough challenge from the low-priced offerings.

“Some deals should be finalized this week,” said a Pakistani trader, adding that the South Asian nation would be looking to buy four to five cargoes for shipments starting from late August.

A regional grains trader agreed: “That’s the intention. They are just waiting to complete a few formalities.”

Earlier this month, Pakistan removed all taxes on imports of wheat by private traders in an effort to boost supplies and check soaring prices after bad weather trimmed this year’s crop. The move would end a state monopoly in the wheat trade.

Before the policy change, Pakistan used to charge a six per cent withholding tax and a 10 per cent sales tax on wheat imports.

Muhammad Najib Balagamwalla, chief executive of Pakistan-based Seatrade Group, told Reuters buyers were looking around for offers from Russia, Ukraine, Poland and Hungary.

—Reuters