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KARACHI:
A sharp surge in dry bulk commodities reshaped Pakistan’s import profile during FY2025-26, with robust inflows of coal, soybean seeds and steel products more than offsetting a steep decline in LNG and other liquid cargoes. The changing cargo mix lifted overall import volumes despite weaker container traffic, highlighting a shift in the country’s industrial and energy demand patterns.
Annual cargo statistics compiled by the Port Qasim Authority (PQA), seen by The Express Tribune, showed that imports handled at the port increased by 2.51 million tonnes to 38.09 million tonnes during July 2025-June 2026 from 35.59 million tonnes in the corresponding period a year earlier. The growth was driven primarily by dry cargo, whose volumes jumped by 5.33 million tonnes to 15.52 million tonnes, reflecting stronger inflows of industrial raw materials and bulk commodities. In contrast, liquid cargo imports declined by 2.68 million tonnes to 15.25 million tonnes, while containerised cargo also posted a modest fall during the fiscal year.
Dry bulk cargo emerged as the standout feature of FY2025-26’s import performance, with coal accounting for the bulk of the increase in cargo volumes. Coal imports surged by 3.93 million tonnes to 10.95 million tonnes, making it the single largest contributor to overall import growth. Soybean seed imports also recorded robust growth, climbing to 2.44 million tonnes from 1.28 million tonnes in 2024-25, reflecting stronger demand from the edible oil crushing industry and livestock feed manufacturers.
Industrial raw materials also recorded robust growth during the year, reinforcing the broader shift towards bulk commodity imports. Steel coil imports climbed to 729,945 tonnes from 390,870 tonnes, while steel billet volumes more than tripled to 55,801 tonnes. Coke imports also more than doubled to 268,696 tonnes, reflecting stronger demand from the steel and manufacturing sectors. Meanwhile, project cargo surged from just 2,093 tonnes to 30,130 tonnes, indicating increased imports of industrial machinery and equipment. The import basket also diversified, with sugar returning at 198,705 tonnes and rapeseed emerging as a new cargo stream with 98,321 tonnes.
The upward gains were not uniform across all commodities. Imports of canola seed, fertiliser, peas, lentils, wood pulp and palm kernel declined compared with FY2024-25, while wheat and yellow peas virtually disappeared from the import basket during the year. The contrasting performance highlights a changing composition of imports. The divergence suggests that import growth was driven by a handful of key industrial commodities rather than a broad increase across all cargo categories.
In contrast, liquid cargo lost momentum during FY2025-26, largely because of a sharp contraction in energy imports. LNG shipments fell by more than 2.13 million tonnes to 4.97 million tonnes, accounting for the bulk of the decline in the category. Gas oil imports also dropped significantly to 1.28 million tonnes from 2.10 million tonnes, while imports of palm oil, palm olein, soybean oil and phosphoric acid also declined from a year earlier, reflecting the broad-based weakness in liquid cargo.
The decline in liquid cargo was not uniform. Imports of motor gasoline (Mogas) rose by 393,947 tonnes to 4.03 million tonnes, while LPG imports increased to 501,569 tonnes. Chemical imports also registered a marginal increase, although the gains were insufficient to offset the sharp fall in LNG and gas oil shipments.
Traffic
Container traffic, however, remained subdued despite the increase in overall imports. Containerised cargo declined to 7.33 million tonnes from 7.47 million tonnes, while container handling fell to 493,215 TEUs from 503,413 TEUs, reinforcing the trend that FY2025-26’s import growth was driven primarily by bulk commodities rather than containerised trade.
Taken together, the figures show that dry bulk cargo was the backbone of import growth during FY2025-26. Robust inflows of coal, soybean seeds and steel products outweighed declines in LNG and other liquid cargoes, keeping overall import volumes firmly in positive territory.