India’s dominance in the global rice trade is expected to be restored, with a surge in shipments, particularly to Southeast Asian countries and Africa. This follows the government's recent measures, including lifting the ban on white rice exports, setting a Minimum Export Price (MEP) of 490 dollars per tonne, and reducing the export tax on parboiled rice to 10 percent, exporters said.
Over the weekend, the government lifted a restriction on non-basmati white rice transfers and Implemented a least export price of 490 dollars per ton. Moreover, the government lessened the export toll on parboiled rice from 10 to 20 percent. A ban on the shipment of broken rice remains in place.
In order to control price increases and enhance local availability, the government prohibited the export of white rice last September and later enforced a 20 percent export tax on parboiled rice. Yet, India permitted the export of white rice to fulfill the food safety requirements of numerous nations upon their governments' requests.
Total rice shipments, comprising 5.24 MT of basmati and 11.1 MT of non-basmati, decreased by 27 percent to 16.34 MT in 2023-24, compared to the 22.34 MT noted in the previous year. The decision to lift restrictions on the export of non-basmati rice arose after the government removed the MEP of 950 dollars per tonne on basmati rice on September 13.
