India, the world’s largest rice exporter, banned shipments of broken rice and slapped a 20% export tax on several rice varieties starting September 8, making rice prices in some markets rise, including Vietnam.

According to the Vietnam Food Association (VFA), after India’s move, Vietnam’s 5% and 25% broken rice prices soared by US$30 to some US$423-427 per ton and US$25 to some US$403-407 per ton, respectively, while 100% broken rice stopped trading.

India’s restrictions have disrupted shipments of low-cost 100% broken rice to Vietnam, causing a deficit in inputs for animal feed production, vermicelli production and other types of food. Enterprises have, therefore, stopped trading it at the moment, the director of a broken rice exporting company told The Saigon Times.

Merchants have also driven Vietnam’s Dai Thom 8 and OM 18 prices up in the domestic market after India introduced a broken rice export curb and tax imposition on white rice. Raw Dai Thom 8 and OM 18 rice are now sold at some VND6,000 per kilogram in the Mekong Delta region, up VND400 a kilogram.

India is a major rice exporter, accounting for about 40% of global shipments, followed by Thailand, said the chairman of VFA, Nguyen Ngoc Nam. The former shipped 11.3 million tons of rice in the first half of 2022, tripling the rice shipments of the latter between January and July.

The ban on broken rice shipments and the 20% export levy would reverberate through the global market, “disrupting the global rice supply chain and driving up rice prices in the coming time as rice shipments from India have decreased,” Nam said.

Vietnam’s rice exports reached 4.8 million tons, worth over US$2.3 billion in the first eight months of the year, up 20.7% in volume and 9.89% in value year on year.

Vietnam is expected to export some 6.3-6.5 million tons of rice this year, up from 100,000 to 200,000 tons over 2021.

Source: Saigon Times