Workers unload rice sacks from supply trucks at India’s main rice port in Kakinada Anchorage, Andhra Pradesh, southern India, on September 2, 2021. (REUTERS/Rajendra Jadhav)
Mumbai: Indian port stops loading rice, leaving about 1 million tonnes of grain trapped there. This is because buyers refused to pay a new 20% export tax imposed by the government on top of the agreed contract price, five exporters told Reuters on Friday.
India on Thursday banned the export of broken rice and imposed a 20% tariff on various other types of exports.
BV Krishna Rao, chairman of the All India Rice Exporters Association (AIREA), said: “The tariffs have come into force since midnight, but buyers are not ready to pay the tariffs.” “We have stopped loading the vessel.”
India ships about 2 million tonnes of rice each month, most of which is loaded from eastern ports such as Kakinada and Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh.
In a similar situation, New Delhi had in the past offered exemptions for contracts backed by letters of credit (LC) or payment guarantees issued until the day the government made a policy change, according to India’s largest Satyam Barajee. Executive Director Himanshu Agarwal said. rice exporter.
But that was not the case this time.
“Margins in the rice business are so thin that exporters cannot afford the 20% tariff. The government should allow exports for already issued LCs,” said Mr Agarwal.
New Delhi allowed exports against already issued LCs when it banned wheat exports earlier this year.
About 750,000 tonnes of white rice lay in the port and will be subject to a 20% tariff from Friday, traders estimate.
As for the broken rice ban, India allowed the loading of cargo that had been handed over to customs or had ships docked before Thursday’s notice. However, loading must be completed by September 15th.
At least 350,000 tonnes of broken rice in various ports do not meet these standards, making it impossible to return the cargo to the hinterlands, said a dealer of a New Delhi-based global trading company. .
Broken rice was shipped to China, Senegal, Senegal and Djibouti, while other grades of white rice were purchased by buyers in Benin, Sri Lanka, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates, according to exporters.
AIREA has asked the government to relax the new rules on transitional shipments of a total of 750,000 tons of white rice and 500,000 tons of broken rice.
The Commerce Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
India exports rice to more than 150 countries, and a drop in shipments could add upward pressure on already rising food prices due to drought, heatwaves and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
