Govt looks to hit rice trade sweet spot with weekend moves

Export of white rice allowed at minimum export price of $490 per tonne; export duty on parboiled rice cut from 20% to 10%

- SANJEEB MUKHERJEE

The Centre's move over the weekend to lift curbs on export of non-basmati white rice and replace it with a minimum export price (MEP) of $490 per tonne is to ensure that cheaper rice varieties for PDS consumption are not exported out of India, trade and market sources said.

This will also lift the export of premium varieties such as 'Sona Masuri' and 'Gobindo Bhog.'

Export tax on non-basmati white rice was also slashed just a day before the MEP was imposed by the government.

'Gobindo Bhog' and 'Sona Masuri' rice varieties are among the premium non-basmati rice variants priced at over $600 per tonne in the global markets.

The second decision also taken over the weekend was on lowering the export duty on parboiled rice from the current 20 per cent to 10 per cent. This will make Indian varieties competitive against their nearest challengers from Thailand, the market participants added.

Prices of Thailand's 100 per cent premium parboiled rice have dropped from around $604 per tonne on September 4 to around $583 per tonne on September 25. This is a fall of almost 4 per cent in less than a month.