ISLAMABAD: During the first two months of the current fiscal year, exports of rice totaled over 340,237 metric tonnes, worth $233.991 million, down from 507,144 metric tonnes, worth $283.056 million, during the same time the previous year.
According to data from the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, during July and August, rice exports from Pakistan declined by 17.33% compared to shipments during the same period last year.
However, compared to the same period last year, when 84,709 metric tonnes of basmati rice were sold for a cost of $87.480 million, the exports of 79,257 metric tonnes of rice, valued at $94.733 million, increased by 8.29%.
In the meantime, the country made $39.338 million from the export of roughly 20,539 metric tonnes of fish and fish preparations as opposed to the $38.086 million made from the export of 15,922 metric tonnes of fish and fish products during the same period the previous year. Recall that during the first two months of the current fiscal year, food group exports declined by 1.65% as food commodities valued at $711.748 million were exported as opposed to $723.696 million shipped during the same time last year.
As opposed to this, the country’s imports of the food group during the first two months of the current fiscal year decreased by 26.91% compared to imports during the same period last year. From July to August 2023, food imports into the state dropped from $1.783 billion to $1.303 billion. —APP
