Pakistan To Lift MEP Curb On Non Basmati Rice

Pakistan is likely to remove a minimum export price of $750 PMT imposed on non-basmati rice in order to boost overseas sales after forecasts of a bumper harvest this season.

Pakistan, the world's fifth-largest rice exporter, had imposed a minimum export price to increase earnings and withhold some cargoes destined abroad in order to build a domestic strategic reserve.

According to official estimates, Pakistan's 2008 rice output to rise 27 % to seven million MT in 2008 from 5.5 million MT a year ago. Pakistan's rice exports jumped 50 % to 3.2 million MT in first half of 2008 as one of its main competitors, India, imposed curbs on the overseas sale of the grain.