A government agency in Pakistan has issued an international tender to purchase and import 640,000 tonnes of wheat, European traders said on Wednesday.

The deadline for submission of price offers in the tender from the Trading Corporation of Pakistan (TCP) is Sept 29.

Pakistan has regularly bought wheat in the global market in past months in moves to improve tight local supplies and cool prices.

On Monday, price offers were submitted in a previous tender for up to 500,000 tonnes from the TCP with no purchase yet reported.

Shipment in the new tender is sought between January and February 2022.

Offers are sought for consignments of a minimum 100,000 tonnes from worldwide sources. The TCP reserves the right to buy more or less than the tender volume.

After sugar import, the government has initiated a probe against the TCP chairperson for inordinate delay in executing a wheat import deal on a government-to-government basis, according to a September 14 report of The Express Tribune.

The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) has tasked the Ministry of Commerce to act in this regard.

Earlier, the government missed an opportunity to avail the option of importing wheat from Russia at $280 per ton in a government-to-government arrangement, according to the report.

The reported cited bureaucratic hurdles as the delay in availing the opportunity, saying the country was going to procure 120,000 tons of wheat at a cost of $369 per ton to build strategic reserves.