‘Pak rice export to China may cross one million tons in next two years’

BEIJING: “Pakistani rice exports are likely to cross one million tons within two years with increased demand from the Chinese market,” said Badar uz Zaman, Commercial Counselor of Pakistan Embassy in China.

“Last year our rice exports to China was 475,000 tons and in quantity wise we are the 3rd largest country while in amount of money wise we are the 4th largest rice exporter to China,” Badar told China Economic Net.

Last year, Vietnam, Myanmar, and Thailand were the top three rice exporters to China, amounting to 787,538 tons, 911,231 tons, and 324,642 tons respectively.

“Rice is the 4th largest export item to China after copper, cotton yarn, and ores”, he mentioned.

China had appeared as one of the top destinations for importing Pakistani rice, as reflected in the 59% increase of broken rice in last year, while semi/wholly milled rice and IRRI-6 and IRRI-9 are the main top two rice varieties imported by China amounted to around $259 million last year.

Badar said the number of registered rice exporters has increased to 53 and within the last two years 18 new Pakistani rice companies were registered by the General Administration of Customs P.R. China, which shows the huge demand for Pakistani rice in the Chinese market. These companies fully meet the Chinese standard.