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Pakistan & Gulf Weekly Brief

Week of 26 Oct 2026. What is queuing at Pakistan's ports, how busy the region's ports and sea lanes are, and what staples, building materials and fuel are selling for on both sides of the Arabian Sea, in US dollars beside the local price. Published every Monday from the platform's daily collection.

538,005 tof cargo waiting off Karachi and Port Qasim, Pakistan (17 ships)

26ships through the Strait of Hormuz in 7 days (▲ 13.0% against the 4 weeks before)

US$1,030/tsuper basmati rice, new crop, Pakistani wholesale (▼ 5.6% on the week)

US$1.17/Lpetrol (95) in the UAE in October (▲ 16.0% on September)

Pakistan's seaports

What is queuing at Karachi and Port Qasim

Tonnes of cargo Pakistan's two main seaports list as due, waiting at anchorage and alongside, by commodity, from the port authorities' own daily lists. Container ships are not included: the ports count their boxes, not their tonnes.

Port lists of 26 Oct 2026. Waiting a week earlier is from the lists of 19 Oct 2026.
Cargo	Ships	Due (t)	Waiting (t)	Alongside (t)	Waiting a week earlier (t)
Coal	4	—	217,515	—	53,700
Palm Oil	5	—	108,300	—	130,716
General Cargo	3	67,046	—	—	—
Soyabean Seed	1	—	65,263	—	69,029
Rice	4	7,800	30,000	27,070	35,000
Fertilizer	1	—	54,779	—	—
Pet Coke	1	—	—	51,717	—
Wheat	1	51,000	—	—	—
Steel Coil	1	—	31,309	—	29,475
Phosp. Acid	1	—	18,715	—	—

Sea lanes and Gulf ports

How busy the routes and the ports are

Ships through the three sea lanes the region's trade depends on, and calls at the busiest ports of Pakistan, the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Qatar.

Ships through each sea lane in its latest seven days, against its weekly average over the four weeks before.
Sea lane	Ships, 7 days	Tankers	Vs 4-week average
Suez Canal	310	111	▲ 6.3%
Bab el-Mandeb Strait	185	70	▼ 3.6%
Strait of Hormuz	26	4	▲ 13.0%

The busiest ports of Pakistan, the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Qatar in their latest seven days. Tonnages are estimates of the cargo carried.
Port	Country	Ship calls, 7 days	Vs 4-week average	Imports (t)	Exports (t)
Fujairah	United Arab Emirates	57	▲ 11.2%	636,976	685,548
Karachi	Pakistan	47	▲ 22.9%	466,697	290,792
Abu Dhabi	United Arab Emirates	39	▲ 18.2%	44,143	24,222
Jebel Ali	United Arab Emirates	35	▲ 11.1%	559,483	223,876
Dubai	United Arab Emirates	30	▼ 20.0%	8,639	17,164
Muhammad Bin Qasim	Pakistan	25	▼ 2.9%	522,120	35,229
Sharjah	United Arab Emirates	17	▲ 33.3%	34,070	69,550
Dammam	Saudi Arabia	16	▲ 25.5%	97,585	21,841
Al Hamriyah LPG Terminal	United Arab Emirates	16	▲ 16.4%	139,882	24,585
Khalifa Port	United Arab Emirates	14	▼ 6.7%	41,428	67,757

Built from satellite ship tracking. Data to 18 Oct 2026; it is published about a week behind and recent days are revised.

Pakistan's wholesale markets

Staples in Punjab's wholesale markets

Punjab grows most of Pakistan's wheat, rice and vegetables. These are the province-wide wholesale rates its agriculture marketing service publishes each day, in US dollars and in rupees.

Rates of 25 Oct 2026. The dollar figure is the middle of the day's range. The change is on the nearest day at least a week before, in rupees.
Commodity	Price (US$)	Price (local)	Week on week
Wheat	US$428 /t	Rs 11,625–12,062 /100 kg	▲ 7.7%
Super basmati rice, new crop	US$1,030 /t	Rs 28,000–29,000 /100 kg	▼ 5.6%
Super basmati rice, old crop	US$1,138 /t	Rs 31,000–32,000 /100 kg	▼ 0.8%
Basmati paddy	US$449 /t	Rs 11,625–13,250 /100 kg	▼ 2.0%
Maize (corn)	US$257 /t	Rs 6,875–7,375 /100 kg	▼ 8.8%
Sugar (white)	US$491 /t	Rs 13,550–13,650 /100 kg	▼ 0.3%
Chickpeas (desi, small)	US$750 /t	Rs 20,250–21,250 /100 kg	▲ 1.2%
Mung beans	US$923 /t	Rs 25,000–26,110 /100 kg	▼ 10.7%
Onions	US$623 /t	Rs 16,800–17,700 /100 kg	▲ 3.1%
Potatoes, new crop	US$417 /t	Rs 10,400–12,700 /100 kg	▲ 2.4%
Tomatoes	US$379 /t	Rs 10,000–11,000 /100 kg	▼ 0.5%
Bananas	US$0.43 /dozen	Rs 110–130 /dozen	▼ 1.8%

Across the Gulf

Fuel and official prices in the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Qatar

What a litre of fuel costs in each country, and what the Gulf governments' own price bulletins say staples and building materials are selling for.

Pump prices per litre, set by each country. The change is on the previous price period, in local currency: a week for Pakistan, whose prices move daily, and the previous month for the others.
Country	Price for	Petrol (95)	Change	Diesel	Change
Pakistan	24 Oct 2026	US$1.36 PKR 377.71	▼ 2.2%	US$1.42 PKR 393.66	▼ 0.8%
United Arab Emirates	October 2026	US$1.17 AED 4.28	▲ 16.0%	US$1.31 AED 4.80	▲ 11.6%
Saudi Arabia	October 2026	US$0.62 SAR 2.33	no change	US$0.48 SAR 1.79	no change
Qatar	September 2026	US$0.58 QAR 2.10	no change	US$0.56 QAR 2.05	no change

Saudi Arabia's official average retail prices for August 2026, as its national statistics authority publishes them, about six weeks after the month.
Item	Per	Price	On the month	On the year
Rebar 12 mm, Saudi-made	tonne	US$835 SAR 3,129.78	▼ 1.1%	▲ 21.6%
Cement (ordinary grey), Saudi-made	50 kg	US$4.15 SAR 15.55	▲ 0.1%	▲ 0.6%
Ready-mix concrete, grade 250	m³	US$51.87 SAR 194.53	▼ 0.6%	▼ 2.0%
Basmati rice, Indian, branded	10 kg	US$25.27 SAR 94.76	▲ 1.5%	▼ 0.9%
Mutton, fresh	kg	US$18.99 SAR 71.21	▲ 1.3%	▲ 6.1%
Onions, local	kg	US$1.21 SAR 4.55	▲ 17.9%	▲ 16.7%
Onions, imported	kg	US$1.37 SAR 5.12	▲ 11.5%	▲ 7.3%
Mangoes from Pakistan	kg	US$3.66 SAR 13.71	▲ 4.0%	▲ 10.3%

Doha's central market on 15 Oct 2026, per kilo: produce from Pakistan against the cheapest and dearest other origin of the same product.
Product	From Pakistan	Cheapest other origin	Dearest other origin
Potato	US$1.10 QAR 4.00	US$0.82 QAR 3.00 (Saudi Arabia)	US$0.96 QAR 3.50 (Syria)
Red Onions	US$1.10 QAR 4.00	US$1.10 QAR 4.00 (Egypt)	US$1.10 QAR 4.00 (Syria)

World benchmarks

The international prices behind them

Monthly average world prices for the commodities the region trades, for reference against the local figures above.

Monthly averages for September 2026 (published 6 Oct 2026).
Commodity	Unit	Price	On the month	On the year
Brent crude	US$ per barrel	102.02	▲ 15.8%	▲ 50.9%
Dubai crude	US$ per barrel	111.83	▲ 27.0%	▲ 59.9%
LNG, Asia	US$ per mmBtu	26.64	▲ 20.9%	▲ 136.2%
Coal, Australia	US$ per tonne	153.8	▲ 9.5%	▲ 36.7%
Urea	US$ per tonne	260	▲ 11.9%	▲ 9.9%
DAP fertiliser	US$ per tonne	882	▲ 1.1%	▲ 2.8%
Wheat	US$ per tonne	247	▲ 3.8%	▲ 59.1%
Rice, Thai	US$ per tonne	466	▲ 5.9%	▲ 33.6%
Palm oil	US$ per tonne	1,133	▲ 0.1%	▲ 9.5%
Sugar, world	US cents per lb	17.94	▲ 6.6%	▲ 13.6%
Cotton	US cents per lb	95.8	▲ 0.2%	▲ 22.9%
Iron ore	US$ per dry tonne	100.4	▲ 0.8%	▼ 5.6%
Copper	US$ per tonne	14,473	▲ 1.0%	▲ 44.8%
Aluminium	US$ per tonne	3,283	▲ 1.0%	▲ 23.7%
Gold	US$ per troy ounce	4,335	▼ 1.9%	▲ 18.2%

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Earlier briefs

Pakistani rupees are converted at the State Bank of Pakistan's weighted average rate of 23 Oct 2026 (Rs 276.73 per US dollar); the UAE dirham, Saudi riyal and Qatari riyal at their fixed US dollar pegs (3.6725, 3.75 and 3.64). Changes are worked out on local prices, so a move in the exchange rate does not show up as a move in price. Figures are shown as the port authorities, governments and oil companies published them; nothing has been estimated or adjusted. Brief of 2026-10-26.