Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN)– Auto-rice millers have urged the government to withdraw the rice export ban to offset the risk of further price fall following the aman harvest next month.
“It has become a pressing need to export as supply of rice exceeds domestic demand. Exports will allow the prices to rebound,” said AKM Khorshed Alam Khan, president of Bangladesh Auto Rice Mill Owners Association told reporters in Dhaka on Saturday.
Prices of paddy and rice fell earlier this year due to increased production of boro and aman in the past two seasons.
In the capital Dhaka, retail prices of all types of rice were down by about 12 percent from a year ago as of October 13, according to the state-run Trading Corporation of Bangladesh.
Bangladesh, the world’s fourth-biggest rice producer, bagged 33.8 million tones in fiscal 2011-12, a rise by around 1.0 percent from the previous year, according to Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics.
Currently, other than the aromatic varieties, export of common rice is prohibited.
BBN/SSR/AD-14Oct12-11:37 am (BST)
