1
KARACHI: Pakistan imported more than one million tonnes of pulses in the first 10 months of 2016-17 due to lower domestic production of chickpeas (gram whole).
A total of 1.098m tonnes of various pulses arrived in the country in July-April, resulting in the import bill of $834m. In contrast, 752,172 tonnes of pulses worth $485m were imported in the same period last year.
Pakistan bought costly pulses this year as the average price per tonne stood at $759 in July-April versus $645 a year ago.
The local production of gram whole has been in decline for the last two years. This led to bulk imports that were aimed at meeting the local consumption, especially in Ramazan, Karachi Wholesalers Grocers Association (KWGA) Chairman Anis Majeed said.
He added that the share of gram whole is around 70 per cent in the total imports of pulses, including kabuli chana (white gram), mash, masur and moong. Gram whole is imported from Australia, Canada, United States and China.
The local production of gram whole in the current year hovered around 225,000-250,000 tonnes against 325,000-350,000 tonnes a year ago. Its local consumption stands at 750,000 tonnes, he said.
He said most countries imported black gram from Australia due to its good crop, which kept the prices at an affordable level. The price of Australian black gram is quoted at $950 per tonne.
Mr Majeed said high imports of pulses kept the local wholesale rates under control for the last few months. The masur wholesale price is Rs30 per kilogram lower than the landed cost. The gram whole price is also Rs5-10 per kg lower than its landed cost, he said.
Markets are now flooded with imported pulses, he said, adding that there will be no shortage of it during Ramazan.
Due to a bad crop of gram whole, overall imports of pulses swelled to 910,877 tonnes worth $595m in 2015-16 against 655,420 tonnes costing $409m in 2014-15.
Imports of pulses in 2013-14 stood at 499,251 tonnes costing $309m against 472,617 tonnes worth $327m in 2012-13.
Published in Dawn, May 24th, 2017
