rice
How to Import Rice from Pakistan
What a first rice order from Pakistan needs: grade, sella or white, pack, container load, documents, and the port. No public price.
A first rice shipment from Pakistan fails when the buyer names a country and skips the grade. Zarkaar mills nothing itself. Partner mills in Punjab bag the rice. The export desk in Multan confirms the lot, and the box leaves through Karachi. This note is the order of decisions. The price is not on it. An indicative offer lasts 7 days and becomes firm when you accept the proforma.
Choose the grain before the bag
Four export grades are already compared in the basmati buyers guide:
- Basmati 1121, 386, and Super for diaspora and Gulf retail. Grain length 7.5–8.4 mm. Broken max 4 percent. Moisture max 14 percent.
- Super Kernel when the shelf can carry a longer, softer grain. Broken max 3 percent.
- IRRI-6 for volume. It can be parboiled (sella) or white. Say which.
- IRRI-9 for long-grain white catering and aid-style programs. Still confirm parboiled or white before the mill run.
Sella or white is a process, not a brand. Zarkaar will not relabel white rice as sella. A container of 100 percent brokens is not sold. Broken grain is a ceiling on head rice, explained on the brokens page.
October through February is the post-harvest window for new-crop rice. Stored milled lots can move in other months when the lab sheet passes. There is no public paddy price and no ageing certificate with a fixed month count.
Choose the pack and the load
| Pack | When it fits |
|---|---|
| 5, 10, 25 kg private label | One 40-foot high cube, about 25 metric tons. Saudi retail needs SASO on the artwork before stuffing. |
| 25 and 50 kg plain bags | Institutional and commodity lots. |
| Bulk | IRRI programs from about 5,000 metric tons. |
A 20-foot container plans at about 24 metric tons. A 40-foot container plans at about 27 metric tons. Those figures are also on the container load page. They are not a rate.
Documents you will see, and documents you still file
Pakistan sends phytosanitary, fumigation, Halal, a Karachi Chamber certificate of origin, and a lab sheet for moisture, broken grain, and length. Scans go out before the bill of lading.
Your broker files the destination entry. That includes SASO coordination on Saudi retail rice, UK plant health, a Canadian import permit, and FDA prior notice on a US entry. Zarkaar does not lodge those filings and is not the importer of record.
Wheat grain is not an alternative if rice slips. Commercial wheat export is closed.
Term, payment, and who is not a desk
The default term is FOB Karachi. CFR adds ocean freight to the port you name and does not include insurance. CIF adds marine insurance at cost. Duty and delivery after discharge stay with you.
Name a real terminal. Jebel Ali is the UAE port. Jeddah or Dammam is the Saudi port. Riyadh is not a seaport. Live market desks are the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Canada. Kenya and Tanzania, and grade notes for Iraq and Yemen, stay on their lane pages. Iran is not a desk. A sample is the honest start for a country without a page, where the commodity allows one.
New buyers are not on open account. The payment terms page states the advance and the letter of credit. Sea dispatch is planned at 14 days from a confirmed order. That plan moves if the mill run is full.
Offers that come back wrong
Five mistakes account for most refused first orders.
A 5 metric ton rice minimum is not published. Container plans start at a 20-foot box, about 24 metric tons. Private-label retail is one 40-foot high cube, about 25 metric tons. IRRI bulk starts near 5,000 metric tons.
IRRI is not basmati. A photograph of long white grain does not create aroma. Super Kernel is the 8.4 mm-and-longer book, with broken grain at max 3 percent. Standard basmati is about 7.5–8.4 mm, broken max 4 percent. Do not apply the 4 percent ceiling to IRRI. Broken grain on IRRI is the commodity spec on the lab sheet.
Sella means parboiled: soak, steam, and dry before milling. White rice is not sella. IRRI-6 can be either. IRRI-9 is the long-grain white name, and the proforma still has to confirm parboiled or white before the mill run.
Zarkaar does not own the mill, does not name the partner mill, does not publish a paddy rate, and does not issue an ageing certificate. Organic, GlobalG.A.P., and SMETA are not claims on the bag. Hundred-percent brokens, rice flour, and rice bran are not export products.
Kenya and Tanzania are rice lanes. Iraq and Yemen are grade notes. Iran is not a desk. The six buyer desks stay the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the UK, the USA, and Canada.
What to send
Write the grade, sella or white, crop year if you care, bag size, tonnes or box count, discharge port, and arrival month. WhatsApp +92 300 0465810 or use the rice inquiry. The exports desk replies within one business day. Hours are Monday to Saturday, 09:00–19:00 PKT.