Tea imports drop to $445.8mln in Jul-Mar

ISLAMABAD: Tea import into the country fell 1.13 percent to $445.8 million during the first nine months of the current financial year, official data showed.

Tea imports amounted to $450.9 million in the corresponding period of last fiscal year. In terms of quantity, tea imports, however, rose to 171,237 tons from 147,921 tons, depicting a 15.76 percent increase.

Imports of spices decreased 8.51 percent year-on-year during the period as they were recorded at 100,748 tons valuing $111.6 million during the period under review as compared to the imports of 99,823 tons worth $122 million in the same period of last fiscal year, according to the data of the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics.

In the first nine months of the current fiscal year, imports of soyabean oil into the country were also on downward trend as they went down 38.04 percent. The country imported 95,112 tons of soyabean valuing $68.5 million in the July-March period of FY2019 as against 125,193 tons valuing $110.5 million in the corresponding period a year earlier.

Import of palm oil into the country also decreased 10.22 percent as 2.3 million tons of palm oil costing $1.3 billion was imported during the period under review as against 2.1 million tons valuing $1.5 billion in the same period a year earlier.

In July-March, import of leguminous vegetables (pulses) increased 27.5 percent in terms of quantity as it was recorded at 712,540 tons during the nine months of the current fiscal year as against the import of 558,568 tons during the same period of last fiscal year. Import value of pulses, however, fell 3.5 percent to $393.3 million.

The PBS data showed that food group imports during the first nine months recorded a 9.9 percent reduction as they came down to $4.2 billion from $4.7 billion.

In March, food imports amounted to $392.8 million, down 23.5 percent year-on-year and falling 2.9 percent month-on-month.

In July-March, food exports decreased 2.4 percent year-on-year as they fell to $3.3 billion during the period under review from $3.4 billion a year earlier. Food exports include rice, sea foods, fruits, vegetables, wheat, sugar and meat.