India’s easing of ban on non-basmati rice to soften world rice prices

Manila: The Department of Agriculture (DA) on Monday said that India's lifting of its export ban on non-basmati rice may help soften global price pressures. 'We hope that (the) world price of rice will go down a bit,' DA Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. said in a text message. On Sept. 28, the government of India ordered the export floor price of non-basmati white rice to be USD490 per metric ton. In a separate interview, DA Assistant Secretary Arnel de Mesa said this will help ease global pricing considering that India supplies 40 percent of global rice imports. 'Nawawala iyong pressure doon sa, kunwari, karamihan manggagaling ng Vietnam, manggaling ng Thailand dahil limited nga iyong nanggagaling sa bansang India. Pero dahil nawala itong restrictions na ito, malaking volume iyong ma-free-up (The pressure is lifted, for instance, since most of the supply comes from Vietnam and Thailand due to the limited supply coming from India. But because the restriction is now gone, a large volume will be freed up) for trade,' he said. He also noted that the base price for non-basmati white rice is lower than the international prevailing price set at more than USD500 per metric ton. "Ang importante kasi dito iyong magiging mas maluwag, mas magiging maganda iyong trading (What's important here is that trading will be more relaxed, ang going to be better), which will have an impact sa overall presyo ng bigas sa buong mundo (in the overall global prices)," De Mesa said. Meanwhile, Federation of Free Farmers national manager Raul Montemayor said India's move 'could mean lower import prices' for Filipino importers. 'India could resume supplying African and Middle Eastern countries who temporarily shifted to Asian suppliers when the ban was still in place. Lower demand could force Asian exporters like Thailand and Vietnam to lower their prices to maintain their market share,' he said in a separate statement. In July 2023, India imposed an export ban on non-basmati white rice which eventually led to international market s upply and price pressures, as well as price surges of imported rice hitting nearly PHP60 per kilogram in the Philippines. Source: Philippines News Agency