TCP plans projection study to verify country’s five years’ commodities need

KARACHI: KARACHI: State-run Trading Corporation of Pakistan (TCP) plans to conduct a projection study to determine the country’s actual need of various commodities in next five years, an official said on Wednesday.

“The research study (will focus) commodities demand in the country from 2020 to 2025 for the purpose of getting best possible estimation,” the official said.

The official said understanding the structure and growth in demand of commodities is important for decision-making within the existing operating environment, as well as for expansion strategies.

“Therefore, a study is planned that envisages market research and data collection through authentic national and international sources; preparation of sector-wise demand considering all market variables; and preparation of total national demand.”

The state-run TCP, working under the administrative control of the ministry of commerce, is entrusted with the task of undertaking import, export, local sale or purchase operations of the essential commodities like, wheat, urea, DAP, import of seed, pesticides etc in the local and international markets to meet the national demand of such commodities.

An official document of the trading firm said the TCP “intends to hire services of an educational institution/university/consultancy company for carrying out research with respect to the requirement of various commodities to meet national commodity demand from 2020 to 2025”.

The hiring would allow TCP to get “more effective and accurate estimation of the national demand of various commodities such as wheat, urea, DAP, seeds, pesticides etc”.

Ahsan Mehanti, CEO of Arif Habib Commodities said such a study would definitely help the market players in devising their business strategies, “and more importantly it would help the government in aligning the trade policy, subsidies and fixing support price in line with demand and supply of various commodities”.

The Economic Survey of Pakistan estimated that the country produces enough food to meet the domestic dietary needs of the population.

During 2018-19, the availability of staple food items had been estimated as adequate because of appropriate timely import and exports but slightly varied compared to previous year 2017-18.

State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), in a latest report noted that targets for important kharif crops were likely to be missed.

Cotton production was hurt by pest attacks and untimely rains, while sugarcane farmers cultivated less area this year, as they were not able to generate expected earnings on their investments last year.

“It is worth highlighting that despite an improvement in water availability and higher use of other inputs, crop yields have remained low, pointing towards structural shortcomings in the sector,” it said.