Vietnam has fired the first round against Thailand and plans to form a rice cartel by lowering the import duty on the Indian cereal from 50 percent to 35 percent.
India is the largest rice exporter in the world accounting for about 40 percent of global exports. In 2021, rice shipments from the India topped 21.3 million tonnes, including Basmati rice. The Philippines imposes a 50 percent duty on rice imports from non-ASEAN countries
Doubling Farmers Income
The Thailand government spokesperson Thanakorn Wangboonkongchana on May 30, said Bangkok and Hanoi planned to hike the prices of the grain to double farmers’ income and obtain bargaining power in the international market. One of the reasons for the plans to form the cartel, according to Thanakorn is that foodgrain prices have been ruling for almost 2 decades now even as the production cost has increased.
Both the countries came out with this thought as the international demand for rice is on the way to recovery, overcoming the impact of the Coronavirus pandemic.
As per the International Grains Council (IGC), India continues to be very competitive in the global rice market with its 25 percent broken white rice quoting at $342 a tonne during the weekend. Vietnam is quoting $421 for its 5 percent broken white rice and Thailand $449 for the same grade.
“Rice exports from India are booming now. We are quoting at least $100 a tonne less than Vietnam and Thailand. China, Vietnam, and the Philippines are purchasing good volumes,” he added.
India has a good chance to export more to the Philippines, said President, Agri Commodity Exporters Association, M Madan Prakash. “The government in Manila is looking for government-to-government exports since private traders importing rice are selling it at a higher price,” he said.
