KARACHI: Rice prices eased over the past week amid soft demand from exporters and dealers said increasing new-crop arrivals could pull prices further down in coming days.

"There seems to be little demand from the export side so both export prices and local prices are likely to fall in the coming days," Karachi-based dealer Abdul Majeed said on Tuesday.

Majeed said a few exporters had started buying some small quantities of good-quality rice in anticipation of renewed demand in world markets, "Arrivals are also rising and major signs of prices coming off are there."

Dealers said supplies had picked up in the central Punjab province, while in the southern Sindh province new grain was expected from later this week.

Prices of IRRI rice in the local market were already down, but Basmati was holding stable because of slow arrivals amid rains in central Punjab over past weeks, they said. IRRI-6 varieties were quoted between 1,240 and 1,260 rupees for a 100-kg bag, compared with 1,300 and 1,305 rupees the previous week. Traders quoted at $225/$228 for exports this week from $233/234 earlier in the month.

Pakistan expects a crop of more than five million tonnes - higher than last year’s 4.8 million tonnes. Pakistan’s crop year runs from April to November. Sowing normally starts in mid-April and harvesting begins in August, peaking in September.

Annual domestic consumption is about 2.3 million tonnes. Importers in the Gulf and some African countries had started making inquiries, raising hopes among exporters of fresh orders, one dealer said.