Pakistani domestic rice prices were barely changed over the past week, but stocks dwindled to 30,000-40,000 tonnes from 75,000 last week, sufficient to meet local demand, dealers said.
They said the market was expected to remain quiet until fresh arrivals start next month.
With little activity at the end of the season, there was hardly any export orders. Traders quoted export prices for IRRI-6 variety of rice at $234/238 per tonne, compared with $240/244 per tonne the previous week.
"There is no rice. There are no sellers," said Amber Pure, a leading exporter in the port city of Karachi. Another dealer said exports would start picking up towards the end of September, when fresh arrivals from the new crop would begin.
Pakistan's crop year runs from April to November. Sowing normally starts in mid-April and the main harvesting begins in September, but peaks in October.
Rice output for fiscal 2003/04 (July-June) was around 4.2 million tonnes, dealers said. They quoted 100-kg bags of IRRI-6 variety unchanged at 1,255/1,275 rupees.
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