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Islamabad: Pakistan, the world's fifth-biggest rice exporter, may ship 15 per cent less of the grain this year after a power shortage affected milling of paddy, adding to a global shortage of the cereal.
Exports may total 2.8 million metric tonnes in the year ending June from 3.3 million tonnes in the previous season, Mohammad Azhar Akhtar, chairman of the Rice Exporters Association of Pakistan, said. The value may jump to as high as $2 billion from $1.2 billion.
Pakistan, where rice is not a staple food, aims to boost its share of the global market as prices rise to a record. The Food and Agriculture Organisation estimates global exports will decline 3.5 per cent this year as China, India, Vietnam, Indonesia and Egypt curb shipments to secure supplies.
"There's huge demand for Pakistan rice now," Akhtar said. "We want to use this opportunity to capture world markets."
Rough rice for May delivery gained as much as 2.4 per cent to $20.26 per 100 pounds on the Chicago Board of Trade. Prices have doubled in a year, threatening food security across Asia.
The Food and Agriculture Organisation said in February that 36 nations including China face food emergencies this year.
World rice stockpiles may total 72.1 million metric tons by the end of July, the lowest since 1984, the US Department of Agriculture said.
India, the world's second-biggest producer, banned shipments of rice this week to curb inflation that's at a 13- month high. It set the minimum export price of aromatic Basmati rice at $1,200 a tonne and restricted the number of ports for shipments. Neighbour Pakistan may not halt exports of the cereal, Akhtar said.
The philippines: Rogue traders face jail
Traders found hoarding rice while the country struggles to maintain sufficient stocks of its staple grain could be charged with economic sabotage, a crime that carries a life sentence, the justice secretary said yesterday.
Government agents have been raiding warehouses in a hunt for unscrupulous traders and warehouse owners holding on to rice stocks amid spiraling prices and fears of a shortage, Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez said.
The amount of rice hoarded and the resulting effect on the country's economy would determine whether economic sabotage charges could be filed, Gonzalez said.
He said 111 warehouses, each holding at least 40,000 sacks of rice, have been found in northern Bulacan province. A justice department task force was investigating whether any of those facilities had hoarded grains.
- AP
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