Export price of Basmati rice softens due to weak foreign demand

29-May-2024 08:37 PM

New Delhi. The Central Government has fixed the minimum export price (MAP) of Basmati rice at $ 950 per tonne, while for some varieties its export offer price has come down to between $ 800-850 per tonne.

Despite this lower price, foreign importers are showing less interest in buying Basmati rice. Due to weak export demand, the price of Basmati rice in the domestic market has also come down from Rs 75 per kg to Rs 65 per kg.

According to exporters, in view of the uncertain policy of the government, during the last financial year, importers showed haste in buying Basmati rice and imported it in record quantities. In August 2023, the government suddenly fixed a MAP of $ 1200 per tonne for Basmati rice, which was reduced to $ 950 in October.

In view of the falling export offer price of Basmati rice, the Punjab Rice Exporters Association has sent a letter to the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) asking it to look into the matter so that exporters do not face difficulties due to the high MAP.

It is known that APEDA is the nodal agency for issuing registration of Basmati export deals. A former president of the All India Rice Exporters Association (Area) says that foreign importers still have a huge stock of Basmati rice and they are not willing to buy it at a high price. Importers have also ordered a large quantity of rice from Pakistan.