LPG Suppliers CFR Karachi and Port Qasim, Pakistan
Pressurised and semi-refrigerated propane-butane parcels into the Port Qasim terminals for Pakistan's licensed LPG marketers
Pakistan declared 1,817,557 t of LPG imports under HS 2711.19 in 2025 (USD 1,033 million, USD 568 per tonne), up from 1,566,919 t in 2024; the declared seaborne origin was Oman at 146,048 t in 2025 (USD 586 per tonne), more than double the 69,413 t of 2024, with the balance arriving by land. Demand runs at about 6,000 t a day against domestic production of 60,000 to 70,000 t a month, so imports are the swing volume, and they swing with the season: winter heating demand in Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Gilgit-Baltistan lifts consumption by about a quarter, imports peak from October to February and fall away from March to September. Two terminals receive the ships. Engro Vopak at Port Qasim, commissioned in 1997, handles about half of Pakistan's marine LPG imports and berths vessels to 75,000 DWT; SSGC LPG operates the country's open-access terminal at Port Qasim through which other licensed marketers import; their combined storage is about 13,000 t, a third marketer holds OGRA approval for 3,000 t more, and a refrigerated import terminal is being developed. Recent calls show what the port takes: 3,500 and 3,700 t pressurised parcels, 11,000 and 12,000 t semi-refrigerated cargoes, and a 23,065 t fully refrigerated cargo loaded at Houston and Freeport that berthed at Engro Vopak in September 2026 after a Cape voyage. OGRA licenses the marketing companies (its list is dated 10 August 2026), notifies a monthly producer price built on the Saudi Aramco contract price, and adds levies and margins to it.
CBIL brokers commercial propane, commercial butane and mixed LPG to the buyer's blend, ISO 9162 or GPA 2140, in pressurised parcels of 3,000 to 5,000 t, semi-refrigerated parcels of 10,000 to 12,000 t and fully refrigerated cargoes of 20,000 to 23,000 t CFR Port Qasim or Karachi, loading OQ's Salalah LPG plant and the Sohar and Duqm refineries in Oman, Arzew and Bethioua in Algeria, the US Gulf and, subject to confirmation of loading, the Saudi Red Sea terminals, with a terminal slot at Engro Vopak or SSGC LPG confirmed before the laycan is fixed. Every cargo carries the loading terminal's bill of lading, statement of facts and independent quantity and quality certificate (SGS, Intertek or Saybolt), a certificate of origin that matches them, and a vessel with a clean trading history; a cargo that cannot show all four is not one we work. A marketer that states its licence, its terminal slot, the blend, the parcel size, the delivery window and the LC-opening bank gets a firm CP-linked offer; one without them gets a question first.
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The market in figures
- Declared imports, 2025 (HS 2711.19)
- 1,817,557 t, USD 1,033 million, USD 568/t (2024: 1,566,919 t)
- Declared seaborne origin, 2025
- Oman 146,048 t at USD 586/t (2024: 69,413 t)
- Import bill
- USD 1.05 billion FY2025 · USD 1.09 billion FY2026
- Receiving terminals
- Engro Vopak, Port Qasim (about half of marine imports, 75,000 DWT) · SSGC LPG open-access terminal, Port Qasim · combined storage about 13,000 t
- Parcel sizes seen in 2026
- 3,500-3,700 t pressurised · 11,000-12,000 t semi-refrigerated · 23,065 t fully refrigerated (US Gulf, Sep 2026)
- Season
- Winter demand +25%; imports peak October-February, low March-September
Landed values are the importing country's declared CIF, not CBIL prices.
Questions buyers ask
- Pressurised, semi-refrigerated or fully refrigerated into Port Qasim?
- All three land, and the receiving terminal's slot decides. Pressurised coasters of 3,000 to 5,000 t are the short-haul parcel from Oman, three to four days out of Salalah, Duqm or Sohar; semi-refrigerated 10,000 to 12,000 t cargoes suit the Red Sea and Algeria; a fully refrigerated 20,000 to 23,000 t cargo is the economic unit from the US Gulf and needs an Engro Vopak berth window. Tell us which terminal has confirmed your throughput and we size the parcel to it.
- How is LPG into Pakistan priced?
- Against the Saudi Aramco monthly contract price for propane and butane, plus a delivered premium for the origin, the parcel size and the freight, which is exactly how OGRA builds the notified producer price on the other side. Short-haul Omani parcels carry the lowest premium per tonne; US Gulf cargoes carry the longest voyage but the largest parcel. A flat CFR number with no CP reference and no named loading terminal is not an offer in this market.
- What documents prove where a cargo was loaded?
- The producer named (OQ at Salalah, Sohar or Duqm, the Red Sea terminal operator, the Algerian or US Gulf exporter), a bill of lading issued at that terminal, the terminal's statement of facts and an independent quantity and quality certificate from SGS, Intertek or Saybolt, and a certificate of origin that matches them. A ship-to-ship bill of lading off an anchorage does not prove origin, and a cargo offered at a discount to CP with no terminal named is not one we take to a Pakistani buyer.
- Who buys, and what does CBIL need from a buyer?
- OGRA-licensed marketing companies and the two terminal operators, importing for their own filling plants and for the distributors behind them. Before we go to a seller we ask for the licence, the terminal slot or storage arrangement, the propane-butane blend, the parcel size and window, and the bank that will open the sight or usance letter of credit. With those five things we approach a named loading terminal; without them we do not.
- Can CBIL also fix the ship?
- Yes. Our chartering desk, LaycanDesk, prices pressurised and semi-refrigerated gas carriers from Salalah, Duqm and Sohar, the Red Sea and the Mediterranean to Port Qasim, and fully refrigerated tonnage from the US Gulf, so a CFR and a FOB figure can be shown side by side.