Kenya has imposed a duty of 200 dollar per ton on Pakistan's long grain white (LGW). The duty on the rice is to be implemented from July 1. Chances of losing a major buyer of non-basmati rice have increased as the Kenya has doubled the duty on import of Pakistani non-basmati rice. Export of LGW rice to Kenya is around 0.4 million tons annually with revenue of $180 million and, as such, exporters will now have to pay $80m tax each year to Kenya.
Commenting on the situation, sources said: "The demand of Pakistan's LGW Rice in Kenya is very high due to its quality, but the duty can decrease the export. Rice exporters are unable to pay this extra money as they are already paying huge amount to different export-related departments," they opined. "Pakistan import 55 per cent of black tea from Kenya as a result of this duty," they added.
Meanwhile, rice exporters have appealed to the government to take up the issue with the Kenyan government to provide some relief to exporters. "Recently, the demand of high quality LGW rice, despite its high rate of $400 per ton, has surged in the global market as compared to other rice markets including Thailand and Vietnam. Buyers from all over the world are ready to pay extra premium of $30 to $40 to buy excellent quality Pakistani rice. Monthly export of non-basmati rice reached to 0.2 million ton with a revenue of $90m. Around 2.8 billion tons of rice has been exported in the last 10 months," they added.
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