Fragrant rice exports from Bangladesh have gradually been increasing thanks to rising demand for such item in the globe, said traders.
They said the exports could be increased significantly if the government provides necessary incentives like that of competitor countries.
However, Bangladesh exported above 22,400 tonnes of rice worth US$ 17.7 million in the last financial year (FY'19) of which 100 per cent were fragrant rice, according to the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) and the Bangladesh Rice Exporters Association (BREA).
It was 11,000 tonnes worth US$ 7.13 million in FY'18, EPB data showed.
Exports of fragrant rice increased by 149 per cent in FY'19 than that of FY'18 (in value).
The local traders have also made shipment of rice worth US$ 1.7 million in the first three months of the current financial year-- 20 per cent growth (in value) compared to the corresponding period of FY'19.
The local traders exported aromatic rice to UAE, KSA, Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Bhutan, Canada, Switzerland, UK, France, Germany, Finland, Greece, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Jordan, Japan, Lebanon, Maldives Nepal, New Zealand, Myanmar, Mauritius, Malaysia, Kuwait, Liberia and South Africa.
In the first three months of the current financial year (FY'20), local exporters have been able to export 2,500 tonnes of the staple of which 99.5 per cent were fragrant varieties, according to the BREA.
Ishaqul Hossain Sweet, proprietor of Tohfa Enterprise, one of the leading rice exporters in the country, said they were exporting different quality of fragrant rice at US$ 600-US$ 800 per tonne for the last three years.
He said Bangladeshi Chinigura, Kalijeera, Kataribhog, Basmati (locally known as Banglamoti) and Nenia have a great demand in the overseas market.
Apart from the ethnic buyers, the mainstream consumers have also been showing interests for such aromatic rice from Bangladesh as they have low Glycemic Index (GI).
GI a rating system which serves as an indicator on a consumer's blood glucose levels depending on how quickly food is digested.
Ishaqul said to fetch a market of the mainstream super shops in UK, EU, US and Middle East, the traders need incentives.
He said without incentives, the country will not be able to get a lion's share of the US$ 4.5 billion global aromatic rice market.
He said incentives -- like other farm produce exporters enjoy-- could help the country make 0.5 million tonnes of export in a year.
He said a handsome incentive could also help find markets for local parboiled rice (non-basmati rice) in the overseas market.
The government-- long after 2009-- has permitted to export parboiled rice from this year amid surplus production of rice that caused fall in prices in the domestic market thus hurting farmers.
Mr Sweet said despite trying for last three months, they failed to get any buyer for parboiled rice as Pakistani, Thai, Burmese, Indian and Vietnamese products were more competitive.
He said Vietnamese, Pakistani and Burmese non-basmati rice is being sold at US$ 324 to US$ 400 a tonne based on quality and their exporters were getting 10 to 20 per cent of incentives.
And those countries have some established markets, he said.
He said Bangladeshi exportable parboiled (non-basmati) rice will cost US$ 352-US$ 450 per tonne for now.
Many African countries are contacting the Bangladeshi traders for exporting non-basmati rice too, he added.
But the traders could not export non-basmati rice amid comparatively higher prices in the country, he said.
He said without incentives, exports will not be profitable.
"Rather domestic market will remain as more lucrative for traders," he said.
Shah Alam Babu, president of BREA, said big millers in the country were asking them to source for buyers of parboiled rice.
But they couldn't supply produces at the prices offered by the foreign buyers, which were much less compared to their production costs, he said.
If government declared a 20 per cent incentive on rice export and if the current domestic production persists, Bangladesh has the possibility to take a good stake in the world rice market, he added.
Bangladesh produced 37.3 million tonnes of rice in the last financial year of which 4.2 million tonnes were of aromatic varieties, according to the primary estimates of the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS).
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