ISLAMABAD: On Thursday, the first ship carrying 50,000 metric tonnes of wheat landed at the Gwadar port from Russia.
The import of 450,000 metric tonnes of wheat from Russia received authorisation from the federal cabinet’s Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) last year.
The licence was given after Pakistan’s catastrophic floods last year destroyed standing crops on hundreds of thousands of acres, at a cost of $372 per metric tonne from February to March.
According to Pasand Khan Buledi, chairman of the Gwadar Port Authority (GPA), the first ship arrived in the port of Gwadar with 50,000 metric tonnes of wheat.
Eight additional cargo ships will transport Pakistan’s remaining 400,000 metric tonnes of wheat from Russia.
According to a contract between Trade Corporation of Pakistan (TCP) and the Gwadar International Terminal Limited (GITL), preparations had already been taken to manage the import of wheat, Buledi continued.
Pakistan signed arrangements with Moscow this year to import inexpensive oil and gas in addition to wheat as the South Asian nation battled to satisfy its energy needs because of a severe FX constraint.
