February 1, 2006	Wednesday	Muharram 2, 1427

KARACHI, Jan 31; Pakistan rice prices firmed during the past week, with exporters expecting an increase in orders, dealers said on Tuesday.

They said demand for Pakistan’s IRRI-6 rice variety had jumped in Africa in the absence of supplies from India and Vietnam, Pakistan’s key competitors.

The demand from exporters is likely to keep the market bullish, said Abdul Majid, a Karachi-based trader.

Various IRRI-6 varieties were quoted between 1,155 and 1,160 rupees for a 100-kg bag in the local market.

West African countries are the major importers of Pakistani IRRI-6 variety of rice because of its low prices.

Shipments of another 100,000 tons are due in the second week of February, so there is a lot of activity going on in the market, another trader said.

Pakistan has exported about 650,000 tons of IRRI-6 grade rice from the new crop during October to January.

The country is likely to exp-ort 1.8 million tons this year.—Reuters