Pakistan buys 25,000 T sugar

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistan has bought 25,000 tonnes of white/refined sugar at $451.45 per tonne, cost and freight and free out (CFFO), in a tender for 50,000 tonnes that was closed on Feb. 28, a government official and a trader said on Monday.

"The contract for 25,000 tonnes has been awarded to Bunge at their quoted price of $451.45 CFFO," said an official of the state-owned Trading Corporation of Pakistan (TCP), which had issued the tender.

A total of seven bids was submitted against the tender issued on Feb. 10, that was twice deferred, the trader said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

It was not immediately clear if TCP was still in talks to buy more in the same tender, the trader said.

TCP often offers other bidders a chance to match the lowest price.

Bunge's bid was the second best as ED&F Man had offered the lowest price of $450.75 a tonne for the lot of 25,000 but failed to get the contract because inflexibility on other terms, according to the trader.

This was the first purchase out of 200,000 tonnes that the government authorised TCP last month to import.

A top Pakistani sugar trader said last week Pakistan might need to import up to 700,000 tonnes of refined sugar to cover shortages in 2009.

Government and industry bodies had expected refined sugar output in the financial year to June 2009 would fall to between 3.5 million and 3.6 million tonnes. Demand fluctuates between 3.9 million and 4.3 million tonnes.