"Iranian Govt. Lifted Ban on import of Basmati Rice The Iranian government on Tuesday lifted ban on import of Basmati rice. Due to availability of excess rice stocks, Iranian authorities had suspended imports of rice from the rest of the world since October 2014. The rice industry had been badly impacted due to the ban as Iran used to import nearly 1.2 million tonnes of rice from the Indian rice manufacturers. Therefore the lift in ban by Iran is a positive for the rice industry, and will boost rice exports from India in near future."

Basmati Rice Exports May Increase by 10 Percent: APEDA

Basmati rice exports are likely to register an increase of about 10 % over the 3.7 mt recorded during the previous fiscal, according to the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA).
For the 2015-16 fiscal, we are projecting exports of at least 4 mt. It is expected growth of the product for which there is steady demand. So, one can expect around 10 per cent growth, said AK Gupta, Director, Basmati Export Development Foundation, APEDA.
As of April, there was a shortfall in exports primarily because of Iran scaling back its imports due to surplus domestic availability, a situation that Gupta said has stabilised now. The country had imported 0.9 mt in 2014-15, as compared to 1.44 mt in the earlier fiscal.

Basmati exports may dip 10% on Iran ban

Iranian authorities have recently assured the Indian officials that the ban will be lifted shortly and the re-registration process of suppliers would commence soon.

Export Markets

A notification to this effect is likely to be issued by Iran by March 21. Higher demand from traditional markets such as United Arab Emirates and Qatar, and newer markets mainly in Africa such as Algeria, Angola, Ethiopia, Kenya, Nigeria and Tanzania among others have helped offset the impact of Iranian ban to certain extent. European countries such as Denmark and Czech Republic have seen an increase in basmati shipments from India.