Russia: import duties for rice can be increased

The commission of protective measures on foreign trade and customs-tariff policy recommends the Government of the Russian Federation to increase the rates of import duties for rice and flour-groats produce from this grain to 0.12 EURO/kg, informed press-cutting service of the Russian Government.

India's rice output likely to decline

India's rice (paddy) output is likely to decline by a marginal 2.55 per cent this year on delayed monsoon and uncertainty over follow-up rain in the agriculturally crucial month of July.

According to the latest estimate by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), the country's paddy output may decline to 145.2 million tonnes (MT) in 2009 after hitting a record of 149 MT in the previous year. In 2007, total paddy output was recorded at 145 MT.

Less rains helping basmati rice sowing

Lesser monsoon rains have not impacted the sowing of the premium basmati rice in Punjab and Haryana and an increase in acreage in the key producing states indicates higher output and export of the aromatic long grain this year.

Egypt Lifts Ban on Broken Rice Exports

An export fee of 300 Egyptian pounds ($54) per tonne was also imposed on broken rice exports.

The ministry said in February it would allow some exporters to sell rice overseas but only if they delivered an equivalent amount of domestic rice under tender to the state for distribution as part of its food subsidy scheme.

New rice price guarantee scheme in thailand

Writer: BangkokPost.com

The cabinet on Tuesday approved the National Rice Committee's proposal to replace the current paddy mortgage scheme with a price guarantee programme, said deputy government spokesman Vachara Kannikar.

 The Agriculture and Cooperatives Ministry has been assigned to fix a suitable paddy price based on capital cost and a suitable return for farmers, and to quickly complete registration of farmers joining the rice price guarantee programme.

Sopan Manathanya, Managing Director of Chia Meng Marketing, a leading rice distributor, said rice export market is highly competitive this year. Some of the factors which have contributed to the tough market environment are the massive rice output and steep pledging prices announced by the government. The unrealistically high pledging prices make Thai rice too expensive when compared to other rice-producing countries.

Rice exporters have expressed their support to the government's plan to replace the rice pledging scheme with the price guarantee initiative. With the price guarantee, market mechanism will be left undistorted while farmers will be able to sell their rice at a fixed price.

Cambodia announces first milled-rice exports

THE Cambodian Rice Millers Association (CRMA) has announced its first successful export sale of high-quality local rice.

CRMA said it will deliver 200 tonnes of Grade-One jasmine rice to Hong Kong in September, a further 200 tonnes in October, and another 1,000 tonnes in December in the US$1.1 million deal.

CRMA President Phou Puy added that companies from Germany, the Philippines and Brunei are currently negotiating to buy hundreds of thousands of tonnes of milled fragrant rice next year.

The Hong Kong deal, to an unnamed company, comes on the heels of CRMA's July purchase of 4,000 tonnes of unmilled Malis rice from farmers in Battambang's Bai Tong commune for domestic demand and exports. And it follows CRMA's $7 million purchase last year of Taiwanese rice-drying machines and modern packaging materials from Japan.

"We no longer face obstacles in exporting high-quality rice because we have a drying machine, mills and the latest packaging materials," Phou Puy said. "We will buy 40,000 tonnes of unmilled Malis rice from farmers between October and December to support our exports in 2010."

Yang Saing Koma, president of the Cambodian Centre for Study and Development in Agriculture, said news of the exports was a boon to the nation's farmers, who could switch focus from low-quality to high-quality rice strains that earn more money.

The statistics department at the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries said on Monday that Cambodia would harvest an extra 100,000 tonnes of rice this year provided it is not hit by drought or flood.

The Kingdom has 2.6 million hectares of land under rice cultivation producing 7.1 million tonnes of rice. Last year Cambodia exported 3.1 million tonnes of rice.

DOLLAR TRAP TO PUSH UP RICE PRICES

The situation "suggests that a falling dollar will keep rice [and commodity] prices higher," according to the latest edition of the institute's bimonthly publication Rice Today.

"We expect a pitched battle between the current negative sentiment that draws prices lower—especially with India possibly returning to the export market soon—and the US dollar, whose value is shaped by the global and US economies. The result of this battle will mark price trends,"

Bangladesh to export fragrant rice

Food minister Abdur Razzaq said Wednesday that the government had decided to export 10,000 tonnes of fragrant rice in view of the healthy state of the nation's reserves.

"There are currently ten lakh fifty-five thousand tonnes of reserve food grains in the country. This is why government has decided to export a certain volume of fragrant rice," Razzaq told reporters at his office.

Egypt's trade ministry plans to double export duties

Egypt's trade ministry plans to double export duties on rice to LE2,000 ($358) per ton, the daily al Mal has reported. Egypt's trade ministry had informed companies which sell rice to the state's General Authority for Supply Commodities (GASC) of the increase, the council member has said.

Indian Govt weighs export of non-basmati rice

The government is mulling over a new export policy for rice that will, at long last, allow high-value non-basmati rice to be exported, but within a quantitative ceiling. Fair average quality (FAQ) rice, a politically correct term to describe rice sold through the public distribution system (PDS) will not be allowed to be exported under the blueprint being considered. This export policy, according to government officials and trade representatives, would be different from the present one in two key respects. One, a limit on the aggregate quantity of rice exports of all varieties (around two million tonnes) would complement the current policy instrument of a minimum export price (MEP). Two, the present system of classifying rice into basmati and non-basmati, and allowing only basmati to be exported, subject to an MEP of $1,000/tonne, would be replaced with a new classification. The new classification would divide rice grown in India into three categories: exportable basmati, exportable high-value varieties that are comparable in price and quality with exports from countries like Thailand and Vietnam, and non-exportable PDS rice called fair average quality. The exportable high-value varieties would comprise sona masuri, matta, sarbati. The new policy is being considered against a piquant backdrop of bursting foodgrain stocks and the priority need to seamlessly marry food security needs with lucrative trade opportunities. At a meeting last week with food, PDS and civil supplies minister Sharad Pawar, rice traders were asked for additional inputs and clarifications by the government, which is keen on urgently reworking the foodgrain policy to reflect PDS and welfare priorities as well as export imperatives. Indications from the government are that the new policy could take shape fully by end-June or early July, in time for the key Kharif sowing season which is expected to spell yet another record rice crop on the back of normal monsoon forecast by the IMD. " As distinct from other attempts, the policy is likely to empower APEDA and not the the empowered Group of Ministers (eGoM) to take decisions on issues such as Minimum Export Price (MEP) imposition, so that it is used as the sole, and quick-reflex, lever to regulate rice outgo in consonance with global trade advantages and the government's domestic foodgrain needs. This is expected to prevent lengthy time lags on key trade decisions. "The idea is that the government decides on an MEP level, say about $600-700/tonne, which is around the same price at which Thai Jasmine is sold currently, that will ensure that PDS and welfare rice varieties with five per cent brokens remain strictly within the country to be used for the neediest consumers , even as value added rice varieties that command a good price and are in demand in other countries get exported at the right time and price. In turn, this will ensure that the farmer-producer gets a worthy remuneration. AIREA's Vijay Sethia said: " Rice exporters such as Thailand, Pakistan and Viet Nam have been thanking the Indian government for its prolonged ban on exports because they have gained massively at our expense over the last several months. The MEP imposed by the government, for instance, insured that they were careful to price their produce well below $1,100/tonne. With a new, and by all indications good, harvest in the offing, the government has to come up with a new policy that is beneficial to both farmers and to traders since their relationship is symbiotic." Basmati varieties, which have been developed as a brand over the years by India, would continue to be exported without specific MEP blocks that allow the advantage to Pakistani rice. The overall quantitative limit for exports is expected to keep sufficient chunk of value-added rice to meet domestic demands as well and ensure o prevent large scale export of lesser quality non-Basmati rice under the guise of high value rice through over invoicing, as done in the past. Currently, food stocks with the government are around 50 million tonnes, more than twice the storage capacity of the Food Corporation of India, on the back of a 19% higher rice procurement (288.18 lakh tonnes up to May 18) and a record wheat buy (over 221 lakh tonnes).