The rules changed for the upcoming TCP urea tender. The Economic Coordination Committee of the government is now allowing the trading house to present to companies the opportunity to match the lowest offer in the Aug. 27 tender. Under the previous rules, TCP was only allowed to take only the lowest offer and the exact quantity offered. It was not allowed to let other companies match the lowest offer so that it can pull in more urea in one tender.
TCP operated under the old rules in the most recent set of tenders that started in May and ended last month. As a result, it had to hold several tenders to buy the 300,000 mt the government wanted imported immediately. The ECC made the change, according to media reports, to speed up the urea delivery process. The Pakistan government wants TCP to import another 300,000 mt immediately.