Exports of Pakistani rice have declined by 15 per cent during the last 11 months of the outgoing financial year due to devastating flood last year and increasing price of rice in the international market. However Basmati rice, a variety of long grain rice grown in the country, has shown 7 per cent growth during July 2010 to May 2011, as compared to the corresponding period of the last fiscal year.
According to sources, the country has exported at least 2.4 million tonnes of non-Basmati rice during the last 11 months as compared to the 2.829 million tones in the same period last year. However Basmati rice, which is also notable for its fragrance and nuanced flavor, has shown little growth as the country has exported 1.01 million tonnes of the variety during July-May (2010-2011) as compared to 0.943 million tonnes of Basmati export recorded during the same period in the last fiscal year.
Basmati rice exports have earned the country almost $860 million this year as compared to $784 million earned during the first 11 months of the financial year 2010. However, the export of non-Basmati rice has declined to $1.11 million this year as compared to $1.2 million made through exports of the same quality rice during last year. According to sources, export of rice in terms of value has shown some growth as its price in the international market has surged.
The market price of Basmati rice has increased to $850 per tonne this year whereas a market price of $831 per tonne was recorded last year. The market price of other qualities of rice (non-Basmati) has also risen from $424 per tonne recorded in 2010 to at least $462 per tonne this year. During the last 11 months, the export of Basmati in terms of quantity and value has recorded a growth of 7 per cent and 10 per cent respectively while other qualities of rice have registered respective declines in exports by 15 per cent and 7.5 per cent in terms of quantity and value.
Collectively, the value of exports has decreased slightly by 0.7 per cent with high prices prevailing in the market. Earlier, rice exports had registered a decrease of 2.84 per cent during first seven months of the current fiscal over the same period last year. Pakistani rice exporters were also expecting an export level of about 4 million tonnes in the current financial year, a lesser value than 4.6 million tonnes exported in the fiscal year 2010.
Besides, Iran’s increase in duty on the import of rice has also adversely affected Pakistan’s rice exports as they dropped by 37.5 per cent during 2009-2010 as compared to values from the previous year. Iranian government increased the ad valorem safeguard duty on import of various goods by 100 per cent during 2009-2010. Iran’s annual import requirement of rice is 0.8-1 million metric tonnes, which was mainly met by imports from Pakistan, India, Vietnam and Uruguay. Better quality rice varieties, namely basmati and sela were imported from Pakistan. Eighty-eight per cent of Pakistan’s rice exports are to Iran.
After the flood damaged a vast area of cultivable land in Punjab, Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces, the over all production of rice was expected to face reduction of over 20 per cent. It is worth mentioning here that Basmati dominates the traditional rice belt in Punjab. The temperate Japonica type of rice is grown in the lush green valley of Swat, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. IRRI 6 and 9 long grain heat tolerant tropical rice is grown in other areas of the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, and the southern provinces of Sindh and Balochistan.
