Raza Khan

Pakistan’s food group imports rose by 28.7% to $1.069 billion in January 2023 compared to imports of $830.84 million in the corresponding month of the last year, reports WealthPK. According to the Ministry of Commerce, Pakistan spent the largest chunk of food group imports bill on purchasing palm oil during the current fiscal year. The palm oil import bill amounted to $364.24 million during the month under review as against $286.45 million in the corresponding period of 2022, with an increase of 27%.

According to the Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP), the country imports 75% of palm oil products from Indonesia under the Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) and 25% of palm oil products from Malaysia under the Free Trade Agreement (FTA). Despite these agreements, Pakistan faces high export duties on crude palm oil and increasing prices of refined palm oil.

The total local consumption of edible oil is 5 million metric tonnes, 30% of which is domestically-produced while 70% of the demand is met through the import of refined palm oil. Apart from palm oil, Pakistan also imported soyabean oil worth $44.36 million during the month under review, compared to $18.76 million worth of imports in January 2022.

Pakistan also imported $165.32 million worth of wheat during the month under review compared to $157 million in the same month of last year, with an addition of 5.3%. According to the Ministry of Commerce, Russia remained the largest source of wheat import for Pakistan during the current fiscal year. Tea remained among the major food items imported during January, with an import value of $45 million against $53.97 million in the same month of the preceding year, with a decline of 16.6%.

Pakistan is the largest tea importer in the globe. According to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS), the country imported $626.19 million worth of tea during the Fiscal Year 2021-22 as against the import of $580.54 million in the preceding year, with an increase of 7.86%. Kenya is the largest source of tea import for Pakistan in terms of quantity as well as value.

With the massive surge of 65%, the import of pulses rose to $55.15 million during the month under review from $33.41 million in the corresponding month of the last fiscal year. Import of milk, cream and milk food for infants dropped by 20.37% in January 2023 to $12.7 million from $15.95 million in the same month of the last fiscal year.

Imports of spices, dry fruit and nuts were worth $14.59 million and $3.095 million, respectively, during the month under review. The food group import bill declined by 24.78% in October compared to the import bill of $940.28 in September. The food item imports were worth $9.015 billion during the Fiscal Year 2021-22, up by 8% compared to the preceding year. Pakistan also spent the largest chunk of food group imports bill on purchasing palm oil during 2021-22. The import bill of palm oil amounted to $3.549 billion during the last fiscal year.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan-WealthPk