Daily Times

Pakistan’s rice export to China in 2022 surpassed USD 455 million with a volume of more than one million tonnes, for the first time between China-Pakistan rice trade, said Ghulam Qadir Commercial Counsellor. “China’s imports of Semi or wholly milled rice (Commodity Code: 10063020) from Pakistan touched USD 211.88 million, while two kinds of Broken rice (Commodity Code: 10064020, 10064080) reached USD 162.78 million and USD 80.74 million respectively.”

Pakistani rice is getting popular in the Chinese market, he emphasized according to a report published by Gwadar Pro on Wednesday. “As per estimated, Pakistan will produce some 9 million metric tons of rice during the year and this will help to export more commodity,” said Rafique Suleman, Convenor FPCCI Standing Committee on rice. “We could expect the volume to reverse decline last year.”

Due to the flood-induced crop failure, in terms of volume rice export shrunk by 25 percent during the last fiscal year. Pakistan exported 3.717 million metric tons of rice including basmati and other varieties during July-June of FY23 as against 4.97 million metric ton in corresponding period of previous year. But an expected bumper crops this year will bring hope to the industry as a whole. The country’s rice exports will not only be higher than previous year but likely to touch an all-time high level, Suleman said. Thanks to the expansion of planting area and the improvement of technology, growers will be the direct beneficiaries of the export expansion. In addition, the ban on rice exports by India will also help to explore new export markets for Pakistani exports. Pakistan will earn USD 2.7 to USD 3 billion through export of rice during this fiscal as sufficient rice stocks will be available. And the global food shortage caused by various factors has further pushed up export prices. Quotations for Pakistani rice exports (25 percent broken) climbed to an average of USD 503 per metric ton in May, an increase of 11.0 percent month on month, to their highest level since August 2008. Further, by July 15, Pakistan rice prices rose to USD 600 per metric tons. “We started importing Pakistani rice in 2018, with the annual import volume has been stable at more than 200,000 tons in recent years. Both basmati and non-basmati rice are within our scope. In China, basmati is used as a kind of high-end rice, mainly for Southeast Asia and South Asia restaurants.

This long-grain rice, which has a chewier taste, requires less water when cooking. It is suitable for making baked rice and hand-picked rice,” Ding Yong, East China Regional Manager, Shenzhen Vintop Import and Export Co., Ltd. told Gwadar Pro. “More Chinese should be promoted to learn about basmati rice, to my way of thinking, which will be of great help to stimulate the export of Pakistani rice. Basmati rice is a business card of Pakistan, thus more publicity on local customs will be of great benefit to expanding the domestic market,” Ding added.