KARACHI, April 7: State-run Trading Corporation of Pakistan (TCP) on Friday issued a tender to buy 50,000 tons of white sugar, with shipment due in May and bids to be submitted by April 15, a TCP spokesman said.

The corporation had earlier this week issued another tender for the import of a similar quantity of sugar from worldwide sources. That tender will be opened on April 10.

Only 17 pre-qualified foreign firms would be allowed to participate in the tender and the winning bidder would make shipments within four weeks of the opening of a letter of credit.

TCP has been regularly buying sugar from the international market after a government estimate that the country would need at least 800,000 tons of imports in 2006 to meet domestic demand.—Reuters