KARACHI (January 28 2004): Pakistan's rice prices rose further this week as supplies from the new crop almost halted due to the unavailability of trucks ahead of the Muslim festival of Eid al-Adha early next month, dealers said on Tuesday.

"People are in a holiday mood now," dealer Haji Abdul Majeed, an exporter in the southern port city of Karachi, told Reuters.

"Hardly any supplies are coming from farms to the markets because of the unavailability of trucks," he said.

Dealers said there was a dearth of transport to bring rice from the farms because most trucks were bringing in sacrificial animals from the rural areas for the three-day Eid festival, starting on Monday.

Many Muslims slaughter cattle during Eid which is celebrated to mark the end of Islamic pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia.

Dealers said supplies would pick up after Eid holidays, helping the rice rates to ease in the domestic market.

Exporters were finding it difficult to compete with other rice exporting nations because of the high domestic rates, they said.

"We have no big export orders in our hands right now," Majeed said.

For IRRI-6 variety, Pakistani exporters were quoting export prices of $198-$200 per tonne compared to the previous week's rates of 187-$188, dealers said.

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

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

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

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 1,050/1,080 rupees in the local market - unchanged from the previous week.

Exporters were quoting FOB Karachi prices of about $198/$200 a tonne for IRRI-6 rice against previous week's $187/$188.

Courtesy Business Recorder