LAHORE: Pakistan’s rice sector is showing marvellous performance during the financial year 2021-22 by producing a record 8.4 million tons of milled rice first and then achieving export volume of 3.54 million tons in just nine months as compared to 3.69 million tons of exports achieved during the whole corresponding year of 2020-21.
It is hoped that with this pace, Pakistan’s rice exports will make a new record of over 4.5 MT in 12 months of the current financial.
Rice Exporters Association of Pakistan (REAP) Chairman Ali Hussam Asghar while talking to Business Recorder here on Wednesday said this phenomenal performance is in spite of global logistics problem of less availability of containers and highest freight cost. This performance has been achieved with joint efforts of the REAP, exporters and paddy farmers, he added.
Similarly, Basmati exports during last 9 month of this fiscal year from July 1, 2021 to March 31, 2022 have reached 552,403 metric tons showing an increase of 22% YOY basis.
Non Basmati export reached 3,040,090 metric tons in 9 months, he added.
Total rice exports earning might touch US$ 2.3 billion this year while last year it was less than US$ 2 billion. Majority of Pakistan rice millers and exporters have earned handsomely during this 9 month period on the back of higher global demand, lower Paddy Prices & massive PKR devaluation in Pakistan, Ali Hussam Asghar added.
Hamid Malik, a rice trade expert commenting on the situation credited this achievement due to historically higher paddy crop on the back of hybrid rice for which Guard Agri Services took initiative 20 years ago.
The salient feature of this higher Hybrid Rice production is indigenous Hybrid Seed production rather than burning precious foreign exchange on import of seed, he added.
Hamid counting various factors said Pakistan also doubled their rice export to Iran due to less production in Iran & much better quality of Pakistan C1121 & Super Basmati. He said it welcoming that currently Pakistan steamed C1121 is fetching higher price this year on better quality.
He also proposed that Pakistan should pay attention towards diversifying the markets by targeting Iraq, Yemen, CIS, Turkey and North/Central African countries apart from traditional Gulf, USA & EU.
In recent years Basmati is making inroads in China market it will take more than half a decade to adopt to Basmati by Chinese but we need to continue to work on China market. This FY22, China might emerge the largest Pakistan Rice export market, Hamid Malik hoped.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2022
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