Daily Times

Pakistani pine nuts’ exports to China in the first seven months of this year crossed US $41.48 million, according to the official data from the General Administration of Customs of the People’s Republic of China (GACC).

Data from GACC showed that during January-July of 2022, China imported 3,770.76 tons of pine nuts from Pakistan worth $41.48 million while in the same period, China imported 11,513.7 tons of pine nuts around the world valuing about $88.020 million. Overall, China has imported $88.020 million of pine nuts and out of that 47.12% is from Pakistan.

Yar Muhammad Niazi, Chief Executive of Hangzhou Aiza Food, and Shaoxing Aiza Trading said that the export of Pakistani pine nuts to China enjoys zero tariffs and Pakistani pine nuts are classified as high-end snacks in the Chinese market, CEN reported.

“The overall price of Pakistani pine nuts in the Chinese market is on the rise. This year’s season will start in late September and our target is to export 1,500 tons to China. China is a big market and we need to do B2B cooperation to capture a larger part of this market,” Niazi said.

He said that for the last two year the price remained low, valuing ¥130-140 per KG, while this year’s price is expected to go a little higher. They are now working on the value addition of this product and launching a new brand. Pakistani and Chinese governments should support Pakistani enterprises to participate in the exhibitions here to increase Pakistan’s exports to China, he added.

Qadir Baloch comes from Balochistan, Pakistan. He and his family have been associated with the pine nuts business for the last fifty five years. He said that they export pine nuts to the USA, China, Europe, and some Arab countries.

“Our business has been badly affected by the travel and trade restrictions imposed globally due to the COVID-19 pandemic; secondly, a fire engulfed thousands of pine nut trees in Sherani, Balochistan last May, which caused us a very huge loss,” he mentioned.

Baloch further said that the fire has destroyed hundreds of trees located on Koh-e-Sulamain, a mountain range that connects three Pakistani provinces – Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and Punjab, but still, they are trying to manage the situation and increase their exports to friendly countries, especially China.

“I would like to use this platform to thank Iran and China for helping Pakistan take immediate measures to control the fire that had put the lives of wildlife at risk in Balochistan,” Qadir stated. He said that in the last few years China has become the main destination for Pakistani pine nuts and that is why local exporters are happy that they can earn a good profit from the neighboring market. “China is one of the biggest buyers of pine nuts from Pakistan and even during the epidemic the Chinese government played a very vital role in having flexible policies in trade with Pakistan and that’s the reason why so far we have been successful to export pine nuts to China in huge quantity,” he added.

Data also showed that China imported 6,954.64 tons of pine nuts worth $39.19 million from Russia, 568.1 tons worth $4.32 million from Kazakhstan and 220.18 tons of pine nuts valuing $3.01 million from Afghanistan in the first seven months of this year.