ISLAMABAD, Nov 13: Iran’s state grains agency has rejected 30,000 tons of rice offered by Pakistani exporters, saying their prices were too high, traders said on Thursday.

Rahim Janoo, a leading rice exporter, told Reuters Pakistani traders had quoted at least $30 per ton above a benchmark price fixed by the Iranian agency for the purchases.

“Iran had fixed the buying price for Irri-6 at $250 per ton, while we quoted $280 per ton to $287 per ton,” he said. “They rejected all the bids and I think the tender is shelved at least for the time being.”

Traders said export prices quoted for superior quality Basmati rice were $375 to $385 per ton, again higher than the prices fixed by Iran.

A letter from the state-run Government Trading Corporation of Iran, seen by Reuters, said it had decided not to purchase the rice “at present”.

Trade officials said eight Pakistani exporters formed a group to supply 15,000 tons of Irri-6 and 15,000 tons of superior quality Basmati in response to a tender issued on November 28.

The tender was issued after Pakistani rice exporters reached an agreement with the Iranian government in July to sell 30,000 tons through a Pakistan-specific tender.

The tender was the first by Iran directly to Pakistani exporters since 1999 when Tehran halted purchases after disagreements over quality.

Iran bought 365,000 tons of Pakistani Basmati in the fiscal year ended June 30 through third parties, mostly Dubai-based traders.

Local traders said they had lost the opportunity to penetrate the Iranian market, where the government imports at least 800,000 tons of superior quality rice a year to help meet domestic demand of 2.8 million tons.

Haji Majeed, an exporter in Karachi, said high domestic prices, which were hovering at Rs13,000/13,500 per ton, were a key reason behind uncompetitive prices offered by the Pakistani exporters.

Mr Majeed said Iran had bought at least 400,000 tons of the same type of rice it offered to buy from Pakistan, from Thailand and Vietnam. “Now it’s a lost opportunity...we have missed it because of high domestic prices.”

A commerce ministry official said the Iranian grain agency had also objected to group participation in the tender as they asked for only one trader to supply the required amount.

“They said it creates problems for inspection teams to check the quality of every consignment,” he said.

Pakistan estimates it will produce 4.3m tons of rice in the current April-Nov crop year, a 1.73 per cent increase over last year’s 4.228 million tons. Pakistani exporters have raised their export target for next season to 2.0m tons, worth about $560m, from 1.8m tons, worth $540m, the previous season.—Reuters