India permits shipment of 650,000 tonnes of broken rice to three African countries

AFRICA – The government of India, the world’s leading rice exporter, on November 30 indicated that it had granted export permits for 650,000 tonnes of broken rice to three African countries, specifically Senegal, Mali, and Gambia. 

In detail, Senegal will obtain 500,000 tonnes of the cereal while Mali and Gambia will receive cargoes of 100,000 tonnes and 50,000 tonnes respectively.

These volumes are expected to be delivered within the next 6 months through the National Cooperative Exports Limited. 

This approach by the Indian authorities towards these three African countries is the latest exemption in favor of the continent after the announcement last October of an exemption for the export of non-basmati white rice to Guinea, Ivory Coast, Seychelles, and Cameroon.

India accounts for 40% of global rice trade with a list of outlets that includes more than 150 countries. 

Since September 2022, however, the country applied restrictions on several categories of cereal demanded on the international market to control domestic price surges.

In addition, the country imposed a 20% tax on shipments of parboiled rice and a floor price of US$950 applies to each tonne of basmati rice sold abroad.

All these moves were meant to slow down shipments and allay any fear of short supply in the domestic market, although there had been only a marginal increase in retail prices of rice in the past year.

According to the Rice Exporters Association (TREA), these restrictions, which have already been in force for a year, could remain in force until the next legislative elections which will take place between April and May. 

These prospects should further fuel the rise in global cereal prices and fuel concerns in several regions of the world that depend on Indian cereals, including Africa

According to data from the TradeMap platform compiled by the Ecofin Agency, the region spent 2022, US$3.9 billion on the import of 11 million tonnes of milled rice from the Asian country. 

This volume represents nearly 70% of the continent’s total purchases, which annually exceed 16 million tonnes and 27% of its consumption (40 million tonnes).

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