Basmati rice exporters face Iran defaults woes; exports drop 7.2% in Q1

Exports should be against formal orders which include quality specifications and a mechanism for resolution of disputes

Default by Iranian importers on some Indian basmati rice brands under bilateral deals have hit our export of these products in the June quarter. The government has cautioned exporters to avoid private transactions with Iranian importers.

Data from the government's Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (Apeda) show our shipment of basmati declined by 7.2 per cent to 1.17 million tonnes for the April-June period, first three months of the financial year, from the same period last year.

Iran is the largest importer of India’s branded and unbranded aromatic rice (it took a third of all its export