Kolkata, Oct. 20 The export price of basmati rice might come down by 40-50 per cent this year due to higher production and better supply of the Pusa 1121 variety rice, according to Mr Gurnam Arora, Joint Managing Director of Kohinoor Foods Ltd. Pusa 1121 will account for almost 50 per cent of the total basmati production of five million tonnes this year, he said.
The export price of basmati had gone up by about 50 per cent in 2008-09 due to the lower than expected supply. “The prices shot up obnoxiously last year due to Iran’s entry into the market and limited availability of export variety rice ,” Mr Arora told Business Line.
The price of basmati rice, which usually hovers around $1,200-1,300 a tonne, went up by almost 69 per cent to $2,200 a tonne last year. “This year price could hover around $1,200 a tonne,” he said.
There has not been any impact of the drought on basmati production, Mr Arora said. “July-August is typically the sowing period for basmati, though the rainfall was not good during July, however there was a good rainfall in the end of August. Moreover, basmati is low water consuming, so it is relatively insulated from the impact of low rainfall,” he added.
Basmati export may rise by about 30 per cent this year to about 2.2 million tonnes up from 1.8 mt in 2008-09, he said and added that Iran might account for almost 50 per cent of the total exports.
Key markets
Iran imported about 8 lakh tonnes of basmati last year and this year it could import close to one million tonnes, he added. “Export of basmati rice has almost doubled in the last three to four years. West Asia, Saudi Arabia, Doha, Dubai, Iran and Iraq are some of the key markets for exports,” he said.
Domestic consumption of basmati might also rise by about 30 per cent at four lakh tonnes this year, up from three lakh tonnes last year, he said.
Kohinoor Foods hoped to achieve about 50 per cent growth in turnover at Rs 1,000 crore in 2009-2010, against Rs 650 crore in 2008-09, he said. “Exports will account for 60 per cent of our total revenues while domestic market will account for 40 per cent,” he said. The company, Mr Arora said, proposed to expand its ready-to-eat and frozen foods segment to tap a larger market share.
Source : Business Line