ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s maize exports have suffered a drastic 87.19% decline in the first three months of 2025, following a remarkable surge in 2024, as revealed by the latest trade data from the Department of Plant Protection (DPP). This sharp downturn has raised concerns among farmers, traders, and economists regarding sustainability, market stability, and the government’s mismanagement of phytosanitary policies that regulate the export of maize and other agricultural commodities.
According to available data for the week ending March 29, 2025, Pakistani exporters shipped 147,057.57 metric tons of maize to 46 countries in the first quarter of 2023 for feed and food purposes. This figure experienced unprecedented 185.2% growth in 2024, reaching 419,432.67 metric tons across 34 countries in the same period. However, in the first three months of 2025, maize exports collapsed to just 53,725.85 metric tons, restricted to only 12 countries. This marks an 87.19% crash compared to the same period in 2024 and a 63.46% decline from 2023.
Further data highlights that maize exports to Bahrain, Bangladesh, Brunei Darussalam, China, France, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Kenya, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Madagascar, Romania, Seychelles, Singapore, Somalia, Timor-Leste, and Vietnam from January to March 29, 2025, dropped to zero, indicating a complete halt in trade with these nations.
Afghanistan remained the largest importer of Pakistani maize, purchasing 35,949.39 metric tons, accounting for 66.91% of total exports. Other key buyers included the Philippines (11,332.43 metric tons), Malaysia (3,428.80 metric tons), Uzbekistan (815.58 metric tons), Qatar (536.94 metric tons), UAE (528 metric tons), and Sri Lanka (500 metric tons), with respective shares of 21.09%, 6.38%, 1.5%, 0.99%, 0.98%, and 0.93%. However, significant declines in maize exports were observed to Afghanistan (46.95%), Hong Kong (90%), Malaysia (89.86%), Oman (98.89%), the Philippines (54.58%), Qatar (91.98%), Sri Lanka (97.26%), and UAE (90.29%) compared to the same period in 2024.
Vietnam had emerged as a potential market for Pakistan’s non-GMO maize over the past five years following extensive negotiations between the DPP and Vietnam’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. In 2024, Pakistan witnessed a 56.87% increase in maize exports to Vietnam, reaching 192,707.48 metric tons compared to 83,120.70 metric tons in 2023. However, despite having a maize surplus of six million metric tons from a total production of 9.6 million metric tons, exports to Vietnam plummeted to zero in the first three months of 2025, marking a 100% decline.
Industry insiders attribute the steep fall in exports to the government’s poor policy decisions. They criticised the appointment of politically favoured, non-technical bureaucrats to key positions, which either led to policy changes or created hurdles for exporters.
Experts believe that unless provincial food authorities and agriculture departments are actively involved in making production areas pest-free, monitoring pesticide residues, and ensuring proper post-harvest handling, Pakistan’s maize exports will remain vulnerable to interception risks in Vietnam.
The coming months will be crucial in determining whether the DPP can manage this crisis effectively or if the trend of declining exports continues, signaling continued administrative failures within the DPP and MoNFS&R.
It may be added here that, apart from the hurdles in exports, with the impending resumption of GMO Soybeen imports, the cultivation and production of maize is also expected to decrease as the meals of imported seeds are largely used in poultry feed ultimately reducing demand for maize in poultry feed.
