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Monday, March 19, 1973

RICE IMPORT QUOTA FOR SECOND QUARTER OF 1973

The Commerce and Industry Department today announced that the rice

import quota for the second quarter of 1973 had been provisionally fixed at

99,000 metric tons.

This was 12.5 per cent above the basic quota 88,000 metric tone.

Commenting on the quota, a spokesman for the Department said that

offtakes of rice in recent months had been higher than usual. "The increase

in the quota takes account of this and also provides for a slightly larger

stock for Hong Kong as a whole," he said.

The Department would keep developments in the rice trade under close

review, and might issue a supplementary quota during the quarter should

circumstances so warrant, the spokesmen added.

In the first two months of this year, Hong Kong imported 54,223.8

m/tona of rice. Of this amount, Thailand supplied 63 per cent and China

31.8 per cent. The remainder came mainly from Australia, the United States and

Burma.

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