Indian curbs to propel Pakistan's rice exports towards record high

-

Due to competitor India’s decision to reduce its own shipments, Pakistan is expected to export more rice than ever before in the year that ends in June. This is because Islamabad is selling the grain at rates that are over 16 years higher than they have been in the past.

The world’s largest exporter, India, placed curbs on shipments last year. The record exports are relieving some of those restrictions and will help Pakistan replenish its depleted foreign exchange reserves, which are essential for paying for imports.

“We’ve seen a solid demand for rice in the last few months, mainly because India stopped exporting,” Chela Ram Kewlani, chairman of Rice Exporters Association of Pakistan (REAP) told Reuters.

India, which ships about 40% of global rice, unexpectedly prohibited shipments of non-basmati white rice last year and placed export duties on parboiled rice.

Pakistan’s exports might reach 5 million metric tonnes in the fiscal year 2023/24, up from 3.7 million tonnes the previous year, according to Kewlani.

Some industry experts are even more enthusiastic, predicting that shipments may exceed 5.2 million tonnes this year, given the significant increase in output.

According to a New Delhi-based dealer with a multinational trading business, Pakistan might produce 9 to 9.5 million tonnes of rice in 2023/24, up from 5.5 million tonnes the previous year due to floods.

“Higher production and elevated global prices are allowing Pakistan to export at a rapid pace. In December alone Pakistan exported around 700,000 tons of rice,” the dealer said.

Basmati rice exports could jump 60% this year to 950,000 tons, while non-basmati exports could surge 36% to 4.25 million tons, he said.

In terms of value, Pakistan’s rice exports could fetch more than $3 billion this year, an increase from the previous year’s $2.1 billion, said Aadil Nakhoda, assistant Professor at Karachi-based Institute of Business Administration.

Traditionally, India offered non-basmati rice at a lower price than Pakistan.

However, with India out of the market, buyers are switching to Pakistan, and local prices are gradually rising despite higher production, said Hammad Attique, director, sales & marketing at Lahore-based Latif Rice Mills.

Pakistan is offering 5% broken white rice at around $640 per ton and parboiled rice around $680 per ton, up from $465 and $486 respectively a year ago.

Pakistan currently exports non-basmati rice mainly to Indonesia, Senegal, Mali, Ivory Coast, and Kenya and premium basmati rice to the European Union, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, dealers said.

In India’s absence, Vietnam, Thailand, and Pakistan are trying to fill the gap. However, Pakistan’s relative proximity to buying countries in the Middle East, Europe and Africa is providing it with a freight advantage, said a Mumbai-based dealer.

“India is likely to review export curbs after the elections in May. Pakistani exporters have already shipped around two-thirds of the entire year’s shipments, and they are expected to sell the entire quantity before May-end,” the dealer said.

Pakistani farmers have been getting record prices for their paddy, which is likely to encourage them to expand planting area in the next season, said Kewlani.

“Even in the next season Pakistan will have a bigger surplus for exports if weather supports,” he said.



from Firstpost India Latest News https://ift.tt/PM2zqGR
Prakriti Jash

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Both COVID-19 vaccine doses needed for good protection against B16172 variant

-
It’s been a concerning few weeks in the UK, with the B16172 variant first taking hold and then spreading to become dominant. This more infectious form of the virus, initially identified in India, is what we’re now going to have to live with – unless it is out-competed by another variant in the future. Worryingly, experts had predicted that B16172 might be able to escape some of the effects of vaccines, which if true would threaten to derail the UK’s plans to finish lifting restrictions from the end of June. However, Public Health England (PHE) has looked at the ability of various variants to evade immunity and says that the UK’s vaccines remain effective against the variants circulating, including B16172. On the surface, this looks like good news. But delve a bit deeper, and things get more complicated, says Paul Hunter, professor of medicine at the University of East Anglia. PHE’s research found a little drop-off in protection against B16172 among people who were fully vaccinated.
Read more

New coronavirus variant emerge in India: How should our COVID response change?

-
Image
After genome sequencing of over 10,000 COVID-19 cases in India, researchers have discovered a new variant with two new mutations which may be better at evading the immune system. In 15-20 percent of samples from the Indian state of Maharashtra (the state accounting for 62 percent of cases in the country) a new, double mutation in key areas of the virus has been detected. These are now known as the E484Q and L452R mutations. What makes the variant different? Both these mutations are concerning because they are located in a key portion of the virus – the spike protein – that it uses to penetrate human cells. Spike proteins attach via a “receptor binding domain”, meaning the virus can attach to receptors in our cells. These new mutations include changes to the spike protein that make it a “better fit” for human cells. This means the virus can gain entry more easily and multiply faster. Given what we have seen with other similar mutations , it might also make it harder for our immu
Read more

Aditya L1 Mission: Spacecraft is nearing its final phase, says ISRO chief

-
Aditya L1 spacecraft is nearing its final phase, and manoeuvres to enter the L1 point are expected to be completed by January 7, 2024, according to ISRO Chairman S Somanath. “Aditya is on the way. I think it has reached almost its final phase,” the ISRO chief told PTI on the sidelines of an event organised at VSSC to commemorate the 60th year of the First Sounding Rocket Launch. Aditya L1, India’s first space-based mission to study the Sun, was successfully launched on September 2 from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) in Sriharikota. The spacecraft, after travelling about 1.5 million km from Earth over 125 days, is expected to be placed in a Halo orbit around the Lagrangian point L1, considered closest to the Sun. He said that the last preparations for the spacecraft’s entry into the L1 point are currently underway incrementally.”Possibly by January 7th, the final manoeuvres will be done for entering into the L1 point,” Somanath added. Among other tasks, it will capture and tr
Read more