Possibility of a huge boom in the global rice market is slim

09-Nov-2024 09:45 AM

Hyderabad. When the Government of India banned the commercial export of non-Basmati white rice in July 2023, important exporting countries like Thailand, Vietnam and Pakistan got a golden opportunity to arbitrarily increase the export offer price of their rice. In fact, India is the largest exporter of rice in the world and contributes more than 40 percent to the global export market. Exports from here contribute more than 40 percent to the global export market. Due to the halt in exports from here, there was a possibility of a huge decline in the supply and availability of rice in the global market. This situation continued till August 2024. But in September, the Government of India opened the export of white rice and fixed a minimum export price (MAP) of $ 490 per tonne for it. The export duty on Sela rice was reduced from 20 percent to 10 percent and the export MAP of $ 950 per tonne for Basmati rice was removed. Later, the 10% export duty on white rice MEP and Sela rice was also abolished.

Actually, export from India not only balances the demand and supply equation of rice in the global market but also maintains a balance in prices. Generally, Indian rice is available at the cheapest price, so other exporting countries do not get the freedom to increase the price of their rice arbitrarily. Now the same situation has arisen. Export of rice from India has become completely deregulated and duty free, so its export is expected to increase even in Philippines and Indonesia, while both these countries have traditionally been importing rice from Thailand and Vietnam. On the other hand, African countries have also started showing enthusiasm in buying Indian rice like before.