Pakistan to import 1 million tons of wheat as prices climb

Workers loading sacks of wheat flour onto a truck at a depot. — FILE PHOTOGRAPH Workers loading sacks of wheat flour at a depot. The file photograph is contextual imagery and does not depict the 25 July 2026 decision. Photo via Independent Pakistan.

What happened

Pakistan will import one million tons of wheat and release existing government stockpiles to its provinces, as the country grapples with a supply shortfall that has driven up flour prices and squeezed household budgets, Independent Pakistan reported on Saturday, 25 July 2026.

The decision followed a meeting between federal and provincial officials to review the country’s wheat stocks, pricing and supply situation.

“The government will immediately import one million tons of wheat to meet the provinces’ requirements,” Rana Tanveer Hussain, the minister for national food security and research, was quoted as saying in local media. The imports, he said, would help meet domestic needs and support price stability.

The government will also direct the Pakistan Agricultural Storage and Services Corporation, the state grain handler known as PASSCO, to release its existing wheat stocks to provinces according to their needs. Punjab has requested one million tons from federal reserves, while Sindh has sought at least 220,000 tons from stocks held in government warehouses in the province, according to officials who attended the meeting.

Why it matters

The move underscores mounting strain on Pakistan’s wheat supply chain less than three months into the 2026-27 marketing year. Average wheat prices climbed to 4,611 rupees per 40 kilograms in the first week of July, or roughly 115 rupees a kilogram, up from 4,516 rupees a week earlier, with prices ranging from 4,423 rupees in Punjab to 5,100 rupees in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Flour prices climbed in tandem. The national average reached 1,288 rupees per 10 kilograms, up from 1,268 rupees, with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan recording the steepest costs at 1,356 rupees and 1,378 rupees respectively.

The scale of the shortfall remains disputed among government bodies, millers and farmer groups. Official demand projections put total wheat demand for the 2026-27 marketing year at 34.33 million tons, against total availability of 31.78 million tons, leaving an estimated shortfall of about 2.55 million tons. The Progressive Flour Millers Group has projected a shortfall of 2.5 million tons in Punjab alone.

Farmer groups trace the squeeze to the removal of the government’s wheat support price two years ago, a change made under conditions tied to Pakistan’s International Monetary Fund programme. In a joint statement this week, Markazi Kisan League chairman Chaudhry Zulfiqar Ali Olakh and president Muhammad Ashfaq Warraich said provincial governments had compounded the policy shift by failing to procure enough wheat, with Punjab purchasing only 480,000 tons against a three million-ton target and Sindh buying about 200,000 tons.

What is still uncertain

The government has not announced a timetable for the tender or named the suppliers. Production estimates also diverge: the Federal Committee on Agriculture had targeted 29.68 million tons for the 2025-26 Rabi season, the satellite agency SUPARCO estimated 27.48 million tons in May, and the government’s Economic Survey 2025-26 put output at 29.61 million tons. Farmer leaders warned prices could climb to 6,000 rupees per maund if the government does not act.