These will be opened on August 7. Sources said that out of 12 parties, which had participated, only six had quoted their rates but all tenders were conditional. "All the tenders have been rejected on technical grounds, and there is nothing to worry about it. Fresh tenders are being invited," they said. Fresh tendering will not affect the purchase and shipment of the commodity and it would reach here in time, they added.
The tenders for import of 500,000 tons of soft white/medium hard white wheat were opened in TCP office in Karachi on Saturday, July 31. Twelve parties had participated in the tender, out of them only six had given rates. They had quoted $206.47 per ton to maximum $244 per ton.
The price and evaluation committee considered the tenders on Sunday and rejected all of them. "The rejection of tenders was on technical grounds as the bidders had attached conditions which had made interpretations of intentions difficult," sources said.
The Trading Corporation of Pakistan in response of its tender for import of 0.5 million tons wheat opened bids on July 31.
From total 53 companies who purchased the tender documents only 12 had filed bids, but at a later stage six filed regrets to participate due to stringent terms and conditions.
The Corporation received only six bids.
Out of the 6 bidders who actually submitted price offers, two were without bid bonds. They were Meshe on behalf of the Australian Wheat Board, and Bulk Shipping on behalf of Ardent Trading of Dubai.
The other 4 bidders who showed keenness to supply by backing up their offers with bid bonds were on terms and conditions according to international trade practice and not on the onerous TCP terms.
These bidders were Alam & Alam on behalf of Cargill who offered 2 cargoes at $206.47 and $209.97; Northstar on behalf of Dominion Grain who offered one cargo at $215.90' followed by United Resources on behalf of Louis Dreyfus who offered one cargo at $220.58 and another cargo at $224.61. Finally, Bulk Shipping on behalf of Tradeline Dubai offered one cargo at $244.00.
All offers were on the basis of CFFO Karachi.
The offers without bid bonds were by Meshe International on behalf of the Australian Wheat Board who offered one cargo at $218.80 and finally Bulk Shipping on behalf of Ardent Trading Dubai who offered 100,000 tonnes at $233.00.
What was surprising was the total absence of other large international wheat suppliers who used to sell to Pakistan, like Columbia Grain, United Harvest States, Marubeni, Mitsui and other Japanese trading houses. When this scribe contacted some of the local representatives of these companies and asked them why they did not participate they were unanimous in saying that the reason was that TCP's terms and conditions were not acceptable to them being contrary to international norms.
Interestingly, all Pakistan's previous purchases were on the basis of MinFal's terms and conditions which were in line with international trade practice and thus attracted competitive offers from all well-known heavyweights in the wheat trade.
Other renowned international traders, like Soufflet, Toepfer, Glencore etc, had also expressed their regret in writing in the tender opening to TCP stating that TCP's terms were totally unacceptable.
Market observers opine that if the government is serious about wheat import, it should either revert to the old system of purchases or it should instruct TCP to bring its terms and conditions in line with international norms; otherwise there will be no desperately needed wheat arriving in the country which would only play in the hands of wheat hoarders.