India's Basmati exports set to rise as Iran resumes imports

Basmati Rice exports from India is set to rise as Iran, the largest buyer of India’s aromatic Rice, recommences imports.

In recent years, Iran has been placing temporary curbs on Rice imports during the July-January period, mainly to protect its domestic paddy growers and support local prices during the harvest season. Iran accounts for a fourth of India’s annual aromatic Rice shipments of around four million tonnes.

“Based on the current export trend, we expect basmati shipments to be higher than last year,” said a senior official at APEDA (Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority).

Basmati is the second largest product in APEDA’s export portfolio after buffalo meat and accounts for over 22 per cent of the total shipment value.

In the April-November period this fiscal year, basmati exports grew 29% to $2.61 billion from $2.02 billion in the corresponding period last year.

In rupee terms, basmati exports grew 24 per cent to Rs 16,838 crore during the April-November period from Rs 13,571 crore in the corresponding year-ago period. In 2016-17, India’s basmati exports stood at 3.98 million tonnes valued at over $3.22 billion.

However, Indian Rice exporters are cautiously optimistic over the shipment prospects with Iran, considering the fact that they have been facing issues relating to traces of fungicide in exports to the European Union, another major market.

“We expect basmati shipments this year to be the same as last year or even higher,” All India Rice Exporters Association (AIREA) said.