India to ease rice export ban

India is planning to bring some changes in the rice export ban as the overflowing warehouses with the staple food grains compels the country to ship premium non basmati rice. The government of India is expected to allow the private parties to export around 150000 metric tons of non basmati premium rice to the Middle East, said a Food Ministry official. The state godowns are filled with buffer stock food grains and no place for the accommodation of newly harvested grains. India, the world's second-largest rice producer after China, banned rice exports in 2007 to increase local supplies and curb prices. Federal warehouses currently have 26.2 million tons of rice stocks, nearly triple the requirement. The variety that the government is expected to allow for export by private parties is Red Matta, which is grown in the Southern State of Kerala. The demand for Red Matta is seen higher from the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Qatar due to Keralites, who settled in there, the official added. Exports of common rice varieties from India may further depress international rice prices that hit a 14-month low of $11.51 per hundredweight in the second week of May on the Chicago Board of Trade.