Rice exporter Kohinoor Foods on Wednesday said that Basmati rice export from India to Iran may hit due to US sanctions.
In an interview to CNBC-TV18, Gurnam Arora, Joint managing director, said, "The trade between India and Iran is roughly about 1 million tonne every year. After May 4, this agreement is going to be over as the US sanctions are going to be in place. The trade is really worried about it as it is a great market for us."
Arora said, “Whatever markets are already there, we are using them, we are supplying to them. However, Iran is a great market and they are the biggest market for us. Last year, we exported about 12 lakh tonne till February. So, it is a great market for us. It is not possible to get new markets in lieu of that as every market doesn’t eat basmati rice."
"We are in touch with the ministry of commerce and we are telling them to find a mechanism where this trade goes on as Iran is a net importer of rice. Iran is always short of 2 million tonne of rice every year and out of that, they buy about 1 million tonne of basmati rice from India and rest 1 million tonne, they buy Thai rice and other local rice. So, it is a great market for us and we are very concerned about it. We are talking to the government to find a way out,” he added.
Source: Cnbctv18.com
