The country’s pulses’ import shot up by US 100.844 million dollars to US 409.099 million dollars in the last fiscal year 2014-15, according to the official figures. The growth suggested a 33 percent increase in the import bill of pulses that stood at US 308.255 million dollars in the corresponding fiscal year 2013-14, Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) said.
In term of volume, the pulses’ import surged to 660,933 metric tons in the last fiscal year from 499,251 metric tons in the corresponding fiscal year 2013-14, depicting a rise of 32.389 percent or 161, 682 metric tons, the figures showed. In June 2015, the country’s pulses’ import was US 42.811 million dollars going up by US 4.322 million dollars or 15 percent from US 38.489 million dollars in June 2014. The pulses’ import volume also increased by 15 percent or 9038 metric tons in June 2015 to 69,829 metric tons from 60,791 metric tons in June 2014.
Pakistan depends on Australia, Burma, Tanzania and Ethiopia for its pulses’ import to satisfy about 0.6 million metric tons demand for the commodity every year. Pulses’ import is based on crop yield in the country, as good production always help scale down global dependency for the crop, importers said.