India’s largest basmati buyer, Iran, has lifted the ban on its rice imports for six months. The country has allowed rice imports from Jan 22 to Jul 22. Iran bans rice imports every year during Jun-Nov to ensure fair returns for its farmers during their harvest period. The ban was earlier slated to be lifted in November, but the country had extended it indefinitely due to huge stocks at its ports. Despite the ban, Indian traders have been in anticipatory talks with Iranian buyers and had entered into deals to export nearly 100,000 tn of basmati when the ban is lifted. The average price of the deals with Iran has been around $975 per tn so far, against expectation of $1,000 per tn, because of high supply in the West Asian country. Nearly 700,000 tn of Indian basmati makes way into Iranian markets every year.