Rice

The government has decided to reduce the duty on rice imports by more than half the existing rate to encourage the private sector to import the staple and thus help stabilise the volatile rice market. The import duty will be 10 percent, down from 28 percent.

The National Cooperative Dairy Federation of India on Friday bought 1,500 tonne de-oiled rice bran at 1,485 rupees per 100 kg and 300 tonne rice polish at 1,826 rupees through an online auction. The dairy body also bought 600 tonne maize at 1,755 rupees per 100 kg through the auction.

The National Cooperative Dairy Federation of India will buy 6,300 tonnw de-oiled rice bran and 2,450 tonne of rice polish through a reverse electronic auction Friday.

From July 1, post-Goods and Services Tax (GST) introduction the rice is set to become expensive by three to five rupees per kilogram. India is the world largest producer of rice apart from Pakistan and Thailand, accounting 20 per cent of world production. As per the GST Act, branded and packaged rice attracts 5 per cent tax, in addition to the tax levied by the state government at 1.5 per cent; the total tax would be 6.5 per cent per kilogram. In fact, the price of all varieties of rice is expected to increase. The rice cultivating states mainly Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal and Punjab will be affected by the change of tax rate. Most of the states are charging only 1.5 per cent tax, this is the first-time rice will get taxed at 5 per cent.

Thailand rice exports are likely to hit a record high this year. Thailand 2017 rice exports are tipped to reach 11 million tonnes, the most ever, because of rising demand in rice-importing countries at a time that production in grower countries is falling. Thai 5% broken grade white rice to US$462 (15,684 baht) a tonne, up from last month $416 a tonne.

Govt ups common grade paddy MSP to 1,550 rupees/100 kg. Govt ups fine grade paddy MSP to 1,590 rupees/100 kg. This comes at a time when the country is facing a glut in major crops and vegetables, which had resulted in subdued prices, leading to widespread protests among farmers in major growing states.

The price of Vietnamese rice has increased strongly in both domestic and foreign markets recently because of high demand and limited supply. In the world market, Vietnamese rice is only priced lower than that from Thailand. Jasmine rice is now priced at US$565-570 per tonne, $65-70 per tonne higher than three weeks earlier. VietNam 5 percent broken rice is selling at $410-420 per tonne, up $35-45 per tonne, while 25 per cent broken rice is fetching $25-30 per tonne higher at $370-375 per tonne. Rice prices have also increased in the domestic market by an average of more than VNĐ1 million ($44) per tonne.

The country rice inventory as of May 1 declined by 13 percent to 3.21 million metric tons (MMT), from 3.69 MMT recorded a year ago. Of the rice inventory as of May 1, the PSA said 46.38 percent were with the households, 45.21 percent were in commercial warehouses, while 8.41 percent were in the NFA depositories. Nearly 75 percent of NFA stocks consisted of imported rice.

The Army Purchase Organization has offered 16,900 tonne of sharbati rice for auction through NCDEX e-markets, the ration wing said in a tender notice. The auction will be conducted on July 6.

Bangladesh has signed a deal with Vietnam to import 250,000 tonne of rice. Bangladesh will buy 50,000 tonne of parboiled rice at $470 per tonne, and 200,000 tonne of white rice at $430 a tn. The government had earlier planned to buy 1.5 million tonne of grain during the Boro crop season (Nov-May) this year. The floods damaged Boro crops, which would have yielded 600,000 tonne of rice.

Rabi paddy procurement has been paralysed in the backward district as custom millers have stopped work for the past three days as a mark of protest against an order of Odisha Civil Supply Corporation to stop payment of handling charges of Rs 4 per quintal paid to them. Odisha Civil Supply Corporation in its 12 June order discontinued the handling charges paid to the custom millers for delivering the stock of rice at Rice Receiving Centres-cum-Departmental Storage Centres (RRCs-cum-DSCs) and stacking inside the godown. About 2 lakh quintals of Rabi paddy are yet to be procured from farmers. 12.51 lakh quintals of Rabi Paddy have already been purchased in 70 purchasing centers run by 43 Primary Agriculture Cooperative Societies. Delay in procurement of paddy by the state government has become a major problem for the farmers due to the onset of monsoon. They fear that bags of paddy bags stocked at different procurement centres may get spoilt in the rain.

The early morning showers came as a help for paddy farmers who, as per the government instructions, were allowed to start paddy transplantation. The mild showers continued for almost an hour. Hailstones too were reported from few areas surrounding the city. Estimate an area of 1.80 lakh hectares to come under paddy cultivation in this season, nearly 80,000 hectares area would come under basmati varieties.

The government rice stocks in storage have fallen to the lowest in six years due to an insufficient supply from the ongoing procurement programme. The stock of rice stands at 1,91,000 tonnes till June 13 which in 2009 stood at 5,46,000 tonnes in the Fiscal Year 2009-10. The price of rice has already increased over the last two months which traders and millers attribute to the loss of crops in the haor regions in the Northwestern region of Bangladesh. The price of coarse rice in the capital was ranging at between Tk45 and Tk55 a kilogramme, 5%-10% higher compared to that a month ago.

Around 2.1 million tonnes of inedible rice stored by the state were expected to be sold in the latest bidding held yesterday by the Ministry of Commerce, leaving only a small amount of poor quality grade grain in the government stockpile to be put on sale next month. Offer prices ranged between 2,000-6,700 baht per tonne and depended mostly on how poor the quality of the rice was. However, the offer prices were well above offers in the previous bid of around 4,000 baht a tonne.

Prices of rice fell in the key wholesale markets of the country as traders liquidate stocks fearing demand may be hit after the roll out of GST as a 5% tax on branded flour will be levied. In Haryana Karnal market, prices of 1121 basmati sella rice fell by 100 rupees, and the grain was traded at 5,300-5,400 rupees per 100 kg. Permal raw variety non-basmati rice was traded at 2,800 rupees per 100 kg in Karnal.

Heavy monsoon showers that caused flash flooding in certain parts of Assam are likely to hamper production of paddy in the state. Most farmlands are submerged under water, causing threat to paddy seeds sown in the fields. During the first 13 days of the Jun-Sep monsoon season, Assam and Meghalaya received 148.9 mm of rainfall, while it received 94% above-normal rains on tuesday.

The area under paddy has come down from roughly 30.46 lakh hectares during the last season to 28.45 lakh hectares now. Going against the guidelines issued by the Agriculture Department, Punjab farmers in several villages have started transplanting paddy. As per the Sub Soil Water Conservation Act the Agriculture Department would destroy the paddy if is transplanted even a single day before June 15 and the farmer would be made to pay for it. Many farmers also believe that the labour is easily available during the initial days and thus it is convenient for them to transplant paddy on time.