Pakistan rice exports have started the current financial year well, giving rise to hopes that the export turnover for the full year will hit $2 billion after a gap of two years.
Rice exports jumped 40 per cent year-on-year to $224 million in the July-August period, according to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics. Basmati rice exports rose more than 10pc in value during the two months despite a low increase in the volume. Some exporters are re-establishing their brands by improving quality of processing. Others are switching over from shipping large quantities of loose coarse rice to exporting it in wholesale or even retail packaging.
Exports of non-basmati varieties saw a big rise of about 47pc during the period. Accordingly, export earnings surged 57pc to $161m.
