Russia has emerged as the main supplier of wheat grain to Pakistan, securing a whopping 70 percent share of the market.
According to Sputnik analysis of Pakistani statistics for March, Russian companies supplied a record volume of wheat to the country — almost half a million tons, bringing their share of Pakistani imports to seven-tenths.
In 2023, Russia increased wheat supplies to Pakistan by 5.5 times — up to 1.6 million tons worth $568.3 million.
In the first quarter of this year, the volume of deliveries has already reached nearly two-thirds of last year's total, amounting to 1 million tons worth $296 million.
In March, sales soared to an unprecedented 478,000 tons, amounting to a staggering $139 million. The remarkable increase in Pakistani imports accounted for an impressive 70.5 percent of the total share, surpassing the still-significant figure of 24.6 percent achieved in 2022.
In the first quarter, Pakistan steeled half of its payments for Russian grain imports in UAE dirhams and half in US dollars. This marks a significant milestone: the first time dirhams were used to pay for wheat was in November last year.