KARACHI, Nov 8: Pakistani rice prices remained steady over the past week, but dealers said on Tuesday that they would ease in the coming days on healthy supply. “The demand from exporters is there, but prices are expected to come down slightly due to the good supplies, which are improving continuously,” said a Karachi-based dealer.

Dealers said supplies had picked up in the central Punjab and in the southern Sindh. They expected supply to rise further in the coming weeks.

The dealer said exporters had so far made commitments for around 250,000 tons of rice. “We are expecting a bumper crop this year, and will hopefully export over 1.5 million tons.”

Pakistan expects a crop of more than five million tons, against last year’s 4.8 million. Annual domestic consumption is about 2.3 million tons.—Reuters