ISLAMABAD: Statistics released by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) says that wheat prices in dollar terms have been increasing in Pakistan in recent months.

According to the quarterly ‘Crop Prospects and Food Situation’ report of FAO released on Thursday, prices of wheat and wheat flour in Karachi reached record average level of Rs36.40 and Rs45.50 per kg respectively.

By contrast, prices of wheat and wheat flour decreased in India in US dollar term, reflecting ample domestic availability from the 2013 near-record crop, harvested earlier in the year, and the general weakening of Indian rupee against US dollar, revealed the situation report.

Similarly, in Bangladesh, linked to the Indian export prices, wheat flour prices have been decreasing in recent months. In Sri Lanka, imported wheat flour quotations remained unchanged but higher than their year-earlier levels.

The harvest of 2013 winter wheat crop, gathered earlier in the year, has been revised downwards, primarily due to lower crop estimates for India and Pakistan, as a result of adverse weather that depressed plantings and yields.

Reflecting a downward revision for the wheat crop in Pakistan, the government plans to import considerably higher quantities of wheat in current marketing year. According to FAO statistics on cereal production, wheat production in 2013 was estimated to be 24.3 million tonnes, coarse grains 5.2 million tonnes and rice 8.7 million tonnes with total cereal production estimated to be 38.2 million tonnes.

The report says that several countries, especially Pakistan, Egypt, Kenya, Saudi Arabia and Tunisia are expected to import more wheat during 2013-2014.

It was estimated that world wheat trade in 2013-2014 would be 141 million tonnes, 1.4pc above 2012-13 and marginally above the previous forecast in September.

The largest increase in imports is forecast for China (Mainland), where high domestic prices and strong demand could result in imports rising from 3 million tonnes in 2012-13 to 7.5 million tonnes in 2013-14, report says.

Planting of the 2014 winter crops, mainly wheat is under way in China and will start in October in India and Pakistan.

For the sub-region as a whole, the relatively high prices are expected to boost the area planted to wheat.

The report says that since August, the outlook for the 2013 rice season has been downgraded with a forecast reduction of one million tonnes in global production to 496.3 million tonnes in milled equivalent.

Similarly, production prospects deteriorated in Pakistan because of heavy monsoon rains and floods in Punjab.