KARACHI (February 11 2004): Pakistan rice prices were firm last week and are expected to stay strong in the days ahead because of increased orders from Africa, exporters said on Tuesday.

Kenyan demand for Pakistani IRRI-6 had jumped in the past few weeks and buyers were placing more orders.

Haji Majeed, a trader in the port city of Karachi, said exporters had already booked big cargoes of IRRI-6 to Kenya and other African countries and had confirmed orders for another 20,000-25,000 tonnes.

"The high export season will continue up to end-March and after that prices and exports will both fall," he said. "But right now we have some firm orders from a number of countries."

Exporters were quoting FOB Karachi prices at around $202/204 a tonne for IRRI-6, versus the previous week's $198-$200, dealers said.

Iraq, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and East African countries are traditional buyers of IRRI-6 from Pakistan. The fine-quality Basmati rice is popular mainly in the Middle East and Europe.

Another exporter said demand for Basmati rice from the Middle East had also increased. "Prices of the Basmati saw a sharp increase during the last one month on the back of export orders," he said.

Pakistan's rice year runs from April to November but supplies have not yet peaked as farmers are releasing stocks slowly as they aim for higher prices.

The new crop is expected to yield 4.3 to 4.6 million tonnes, with domestic demand at 2.3 million.

Pakistan expects to export 1.9 million tonnes in the fiscal year to June 30, against the previous year's 1.72 million.

Dealers said 100-kg bags of IRRI-6 were quoted at 1,070/1,090 rupees, compared with 1,050/1,070 rupees from the previous week.

Exporters were quoting FOB Karachi prices of about $202/$204 a tonne for IRRI-6 rice against the previous week's $198/$200.

Courtesy Business Recorder