LAHORE: Pakistan’s rice export is likely to fall by approximately 0.6 million tons this year due to the loss of crops in the wake of the heavy floods the country has endured. But exporters are hopeful that higher rice prices on the global markets will compensate for the reduction in the output.
Pakistan, the world’s fifth-largest rice exporter, will likely export some 4.0 to 4.2 million tons of rice in 2010-11 as compared to 4.6 million tons rice shipped in 2009-10.
Speaking to Pakistan Today, Pakistan Rice Exporters Association (REAP), former chairman and leading rice exporter, Azhar Akhtar, citing initial estimates, suggested that some 600,000 tons of paddy was washed away by the devastating floods, which took a huge toll on, in particular, subsistence, farmers. However, as he pointed out, Pakistan’s rice export may surpass $2.0 billion mark this year due to the better price Pakistan’s rice will fetch globally; rice exporters might be able to garner up to $40 million more in revenue than last year’s figures.
The demand of high quality Pakistani basmati rice is voracious and Pakistani rice is gaining a strong foothold in international market; the price hovering around $1,050 to $1,100 per ton. The devastating flood have damaged rice crops cultivated on over 700,000 hectares – in Sindh and South Punjab – out of the total rice holdings of 2.64 million hectares.
Rice industry experts believe that the rice price will remain high this year, as major rice producers around the globe have suffered from climatic variances. While Pakistan has lost about half a million tons of rice, the Philippines and parts of Vietnam have also fallen victim to multiple natural disasters, such as Tropical Storm Ketsana and Typhoon Parma. This has reduced global rice production. Heavy demand from the world largest importer of rice, Philippines has further appreciated the price of rice.
Further data collection on the part of the United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) also illustrates a similar scenario. FAO data suggests that global rice consumption in 2010 is projected to expand by eight million tons to 454 million tons, with the bulk of this volume, some 389 million tons, anticipated to be consumed as food, which is 1.5 percent higher than in 2009.
It is worth mentioning here that rice accounts for about eight percent of the total value of Pakistan’s exports, 6.4 percent of value addition in agriculture and 1.4 percent in gross domestic product. It is the third largest crop grown in the country after wheat and cotton. The country had a bumper crop of 6.7 million tons in 2009-10 and exported about 4.6 million tons. The country consumes about 2.2 million tons rice annually and exports the surplus rice.
