Recent heavy rains and floods have damaged about one-fifth of the rice crop in Pakistan’s Punjab province, which accounts for about half of the production in the world’s fourth-biggest exporter of the staple.
Rice yields in the region, which saw the worst flooding in more than three decades, are likely to drop by more than 9% this year, according to a report by Pakistan’s federal government and the Rice Exporters Association of Pakistan seen by Bloomberg. The report was confirmed by Faisal Jahangir Malik, Chairman of the rice association.