India bans export of non-basmati white rice, price hike expected in Africa
The Indian government announced on Thursday (July 20th) the ban on exports of non-basmati white rice, in a bid to curb inflation of this essential commodity, of which the country is the world's largest exporter. Rice prices have risen sharply in the domestic market in recent weeks.
An Indian farmer harvests rice at a plantation outside Guwahati, June 6, 2023. India is the world's largest exporter of the commodity. © Anupam Nath / AP
Text by: RFI Follow
Advertising
Read more
With our correspondent in New Delhi, Sébastien Farcis
The price of rice has risen by 3% in one month in India, and by 11% year-on-year, and the outlook for the coming months is not good: the recent floods in the north of the country have engulfed the recently sown fields of Punjab, one of the rice granaries, and it will be necessary to quickly replant to save the season. The El Niño weather phenomenon is also expected to bring less rainfall in the coming months.
New Delhi wants to avoid any risk of food shortages and inflation, especially 10 months before the general elections: the authorities have therefore banned all exports of non-basmati white rice. This takes 45% of the sales of the largest rice exporter off the market, a real earthquake.
In Africa, the first countries affected will be Senegal, Côte d'Ivoire, Benin and Togo, which are important customers of India: they will have to turn to Thailand and Vietnam. But their prices are expected to rise quickly: Vietnamese rice chipping was already this week at its highest price in 12 years.
See alsoRice prices: a gloomy scenario for 2023
NewsletterReceive all the international news directly in your mailbox
I subscribe
Follow all the international news by downloading the RFI application
Share:
Read on on the same topics:
- India
- Raw materials
- Economy
- Economic crisis
- Agriculture and Fisheries
- Trade and Commerce