Import of pulses shows big increase

RECORDER REPORT

KARACHI: Pakistan's import of variety of pulses registered $ 6.911 million increase in the first 11 months of the current fiscal year to $ 377.738 million, importers said on Monday.

They said the country suffered a huge loss of its crops because of the harsh weather condition, which scaled down the pulses yield phenomenally during the last winter.  In the first 11 months of the last fiscal year, the country had made $370.827 million of import of pulses to satisfy the local demand, which is two percent higher during the same period the current fiscal year. The country's import of variety of pulses stood 583,616 metric tons in first 11 months of the country fiscal year as against of 587,816 metric tons in the same period of the last fiscal year, showing a rise of 4200 metric tons of less than one percent, suggested Pakistan Bureau of Statistics.

The country's import of pulses swelled to 119.19 percent or $31.252 million in May 2012 to $57.473 million as compared to the commodity's import of $26.221 million in May 2011, the statistics say. In term of volume, Pakistan's pulses import grew from 35,313 metric tons in May 2011 to 81,313 metric tons in May 2011, up by 127.14 percent or 46000 metric tons, according to the PBS.

They said Pakistan would have to import about 80 percent of pulses to meet the local demand for the commodity after its crop failed to yield because of winter frost. Pakistan imports pulses mainly from Australia, Burma, Tanzania and Ethiopia to satisfy 0.6 million metric tonnes demand for the commodity every year, they said.