Pakistan's rice traders are seeking opportunities to export rice to Iraq as prolonged water shortages are expected to stifle production in the Arab country this year, traders said on Monday. Rice output for Iraq 2009 could reach 120,000 tonnes, well below last year's crop that has been estimated at around 150,000-165,000 tonnes, an Iraqi government official told Reuters on Sunday.
Annual rice consumption in Iraq is usually somewhere above 1 million tonnes. "This creates an opportunity for a country like Pakistan and I think this year we will be seeing a larger Pakistani presence in the Iraqi rice market," said Gul Memon, owner of the Mehran long staple rice brand in Pakistan. "We as a company will for sure look into it, and I find Iraq lucky because the price of rice is down 50 percent from last year making it more affordable," he added.
Many rice exporters in Pakistan have updated their facilities and are seeking new markets, said Glen Bayat, managing director of Anza Trade, a rice exporting firm in Pakistan. "I know many traders who are hungry for demand so Iraq having a low production this season does present an opportunity." In the past year, Iraq has become less reliant on grain from the United States, a main supplier since the US-led invasion in 2003.
A budget crunch resulting from a plunge in oil prices has also encouraged Iraq to seek cheaper origins, choosing for example rice from Asian rather than western countries. "The only problem with Iraq is that they have created a committee which issues the rice tenders and this committee has added a layer of bureaucracy," said Bayat.
In several cases a number of Pakistani rice traders have been deterred by risks of receiving late payments and having their cargos delayed in Iraqi ports said Bayat. "So in order to limit these risks, I think we will start to see Pakistani companies forming groups and trading rice to Iraq collectively, with each company giving a small portion of the stock," he added. Earlier this year Iraq's food import system was hit by a corruption scandal that resulted in the resignation of the former Trade Minister Abdul Falah al-Sudany.
Annual rice consumption in Iraq is usually somewhere above 1 million tonnes. "This creates an opportunity for a country like Pakistan and I think this year we will be seeing a larger Pakistani presence in the Iraqi rice market," said Gul Memon, owner of the Mehran long staple rice brand in Pakistan. "We as a company will for sure look into it, and I find Iraq lucky because the price of rice is down 50 percent from last year making it more affordable," he added.
Many rice exporters in Pakistan have updated their facilities and are seeking new markets, said Glen Bayat, managing director of Anza Trade, a rice exporting firm in Pakistan. "I know many traders who are hungry for demand so Iraq having a low production this season does present an opportunity." In the past year, Iraq has become less reliant on grain from the United States, a main supplier since the US-led invasion in 2003.
A budget crunch resulting from a plunge in oil prices has also encouraged Iraq to seek cheaper origins, choosing for example rice from Asian rather than western countries. "The only problem with Iraq is that they have created a committee which issues the rice tenders and this committee has added a layer of bureaucracy," said Bayat.
In several cases a number of Pakistani rice traders have been deterred by risks of receiving late payments and having their cargos delayed in Iraqi ports said Bayat. "So in order to limit these risks, I think we will start to see Pakistani companies forming groups and trading rice to Iraq collectively, with each company giving a small portion of the stock," he added. Earlier this year Iraq's food import system was hit by a corruption scandal that resulted in the resignation of the former Trade Minister Abdul Falah al-Sudany.
No comments:
Post a Comment