Floods wash away rice exports

The country misses orders of up to 750,000 tons of rice to date.

KARACHI: The negative impact on rice production by the floods has finally taken its toll on exports as the country has missed orders of up to 750,000 tons of rice to date. This is equivalent to a monetary loss in exports of $300 million.

After the export of 4.6 million tons of rice worth $2.24 billion last year, the rice export target for this year was set at 5 million tons of rice worth $2.5 billion.

However, due to the impact of the floods on the yield of non-basmati rice, hoarding of rice and problems in the export process, it is probable that the target will not be met.

According to the Rice Exporters Association, exports of the grain could be 1.5 million tons less than the target this year.

Exporters believe that around 3.5 million tons of the produce will be sent abroad which will earn $1.8 billion in revenue. Rafiq Suleiman, the Vice Chairman of the Rice Exporters Association, informed that Pakistan has lost orders worth $300 million of non-basmati rice to Vietnam and that exports will be reduced by between 800,000 and a million tons this year resulting in restricting exports to around $1.8 billion this year.

Furthermore, Kenyan authorities abruptly refused to clear an import of 15,000 tons of rice from Pakistan resulting in a loss of $6 million for the exporters, he said. Exporters have appealed to the prime minister to address this issue, said Suleiman.

The main beneficiary from Pakistan’s reduced rice exports has been Vietnam which has received orders of up to a record 6.6 million tons of rice this year.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 22^nd, 2010.