New Delhi: India on Thursday banned the export of non-basmati white rice, a move that could deal a significant blow to the global rice market. The country accounts for about 40 percent of global rice exports, and is one of the most competitively priced sources of Asian rice, according to agencies that closely track the market.
The Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) on Thursday issued a notification shifting the export of non-basmati white rice from ‘free’ export category to ‘prohibited’. However, it has also been added in the notification Some To meet the food security needs of other countries, exports will be allowed with the permission of the Central Government.
The reason for the export ban, though not explicitly mentioned, is likely a rise in the price of rice – an average of Rs 40.9 per kg as of July 19, up 11.3 per cent from a year ago, according to data from the Department of Consumer Affairs. .
According to data released by the US Department of Agriculture, which maintains a monthly database of global agricultural exports, India’s share in global rice exports was 39 per cent in 2022, rising to 41 per cent by June 2023.
India exported a total of 22.3 million metric tonnes (MT) of rice in the fiscal year 2022-23, according to Indian data maintained by the government’s Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA). Of this, 57 per cent was non-basmati rice, a category now banned for export.
APEDA data shows that the share of non-basmati rice in India’s total rice exports is growing at a very fast pace, even as rice exports overall are also increasing.
Although the government has not come out and said this this time, but according to previous decisions, the reason for the export ban may be the increase in the domestic price of rice.
India did in September 2022 Export of broken rice banned and imposed a 20 percent tax on the export of various grains to reduce rising prices. In June this year, the government passed an order to stop the sale of rice to state governments under the open market sale scheme, “to ensure that inflationary trends are kept under control while ensuring adequate stock levels in the central pool”. .
The ban on rice exports is likely to impact market predictions made by various foreign governments.
“India is expected to remain the most competitively priced global rice exporter in 2023,” the US Department of Agriculture said in a note in June, which it reiterated on July 14.
(Edited by Gitanjali Das)
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