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The import of pulses has reached an all-time high of 1.32 million tonnes ($918m) in just 10 months of FY25, breaking the record of 1.315m tonnes ($946m) achieved during the full fiscal year of 2022-2023.
After breaking the record, the import of pulses is heading close to 1.5m tonnes in FY25 to become a new record for any fiscal year in the history of pulse imports, as July-May FY25 imports have already reached 1.4m tonnes ($970m).
The demand and supply gap triggered by low local crop production has led to this record-breaking import of pulses, which is certainly not an achievement, as rising imports usually drain out precious foreign exchange, while rupee devaluation against the dollar makes imports further expensive.
In the country’s overall food import bill of $7.619 billion during July-May FY25, pulses imports hold the second spot after palm oil’s massive import of 3.037m tonnes ($3.2bn).
‘The government should focus on local pulse production as the yearly import bill of pulses is all set to cross the $1bn dollar mark soon’
The average per tonne price of pulses during July-May FY25 rose slightly to $694 from $659 amid claims of falling prices in world markets. However, the national average prices in the data of the Sensitive Price Index (SPI) of various pulses showed a mixed trend in the last year.
As per SPI data, the price of masoor (pulse variant) has plunged to Rs250-380 per kg from Rs290–400 prevailing in the first week of July 2024.
The price of moong (another variant) rose to Rs 340–470 per kg from Rs300-410, while the price of mash pulse fell to Rs400-530 from Rs500-640 per kg. Meanwhile, gram pulse prices remained almost unchanged at Rs270-400 per kg.
The economic survey of FY25 usually carries data of July-March or July-April. The survey shows a drop of 16.6pc in gram production to 175,000 tonnes in FY25 from 209,000, while moong production declined to 131,000 tonnes from 153,000 tonnes. Masoor and mash production showed no change at 5,000 tonnes and 6,000 tonnes, respectively, in FY25 versus FY24.
Pakistan needs 700,000-900,000 tonnes of gram pulse annually — low local production is forcing the traders to import 600,000-700,000 tonnes every year to meet local demand.
Pakistan needs 700,000-900,000 tonnes of gram pulse annually — low local production is forcing the traders to import 600,000-700,000 tonnes every year to meet national demand
The country has been facing a crisis for decades in making a trade policy based on the demand and supply situation. A clear example is the export of 765,734 tonnes of sugar in July-May FY25 that fetched $411m followed by a surprise decision to import 350,000 tonnes of sweetener under a two-phase plan through the Trading Corporation of Pakistan.
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On many occasions over imports are made without ascertaining market conditions, carryover and available stocks, future demand etc.
While expressing surprise at the government’s sugar export and import strategy, Chairman of the Karachi Wholesalers Grocers Association (KWGA), Rauf Ibrahim, said over-importing of pulses has emerged due to a lack of policy which fails to analyse the needs and consumption and results in loss of foreign exchange. It is easy to get import permits at Rs5,000 only, which has resulted in a mushrooming growth of importers. However, as per the government’s policy, traders have not been able to export excess imports of pulses for decades.
Mr Rauf said, “There is a need to impose a ban on issuing import permits to avert over-importing of commodities, especially pulses.” He further explained that the other way to handle the case is that the food ministry should first analyse the local crop size, actual import requirement and import price and its impact on consumers’ pockets. After that, a certain quantity can be imported with a limited number of importers.
He said most of the neighbouring countries have made policies relating to import and export commodities, keeping in view consumers’ requirements and the foreign exchange situation. These countries have a strong focus on their agriculture.
Pakistan imports various kinds of pulses from the US, Canada, Russia, Argentina, Tanzania, Burma, Brazil and Australia.
“I think the time has come that the government should focus on local pulse production, as the yearly import bill of pulses is all set to cross the $1bn dollar mark soon,” the KWGA chief said, urging the food ministry to devise a plan to boost local production of pulses to save precious foreign exchange.
He also pointed out an anomaly, as commercial importers are paying 3.5pc income tax while a 2pc income tax is charged on millers of pulses. There should be one slab of a 3.5pc income tax for the importers and millers.
Mr Rauf said that a sizable quantity of essential commodities, including pulses, also find their way into Afghanistan and Iran.
Chairman of the Cereal Association of Pakistan, Muzamil Chappal, linked higher pulse imports to low local crops. When traders saw profits in terms of a drop in world prices of pulses, it further lured more importers towards bulk purchases. He was also of the opinion that there is no harm in over-imports, as traders, after making huge imports, take a pause and make low purchases from the global markets.
Mr Chappal did not agree with the gram production figure of 175,000 tonnes in the Economic Survey FY26, fearing that the government might have taken only Punjab’s production data and missed the gram production of 80,000-100,000 tonnes in Sindh and Balochistan.
Published in Dawn, The Business and Finance Weekly, July 14th, 2025