Amid border tensions, China turns towards India for import of rice after 2 years; places order of 5k tonnes
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New Delhi, Dec 4: Amid the India-China border standoff, trade between the two world's most populated countries has taken a positive turn as in a major development China has decided to import Indian rice after a gap of two years.
China placed orders for shipment of about 5,000 tonnes of non-basmati rice due to competitive prices offered by India compared to other nations, according to the All India Rice Exporters Association (AIREA).
India is the world's major exporter of rice, while China is the biggest importer. In 2006, China was given market access for Indian rice but shipments took place only during 2017-18 fiscal. This development of buying rice between the neighboring countries comes at a time when the border tensions have been heightened.
'For the first time, China has made rice purchases. They may increase buying next year after seeing the quality of Indian crop,' said BV Krishna Rao, president of the Rice Exporters Association, as quoted by a private media. According to AIREA Executive Director Vinod Kaul, less than 150 tonnes of basmati rice has been exported till October of 2020-21 fiscal.
In last two months, China has placed orders for shipment of about 5,000 tonnes of non-basmati rice called broken rice from south India, he said. Broken rice is used for making noodles as well as in the wine industry.
This comes as China’s traditional suppliers - Thailand, Vietnam, Myanmar and Pakistan raised their prices owing to limited surplus supplies for export during the Covid-19 pandemic times. This has led to China's moving towards the Indian market.
Along with this, India is offering competitive prices when compared to other nations in the world. The above-mentioned countries were quoting at least 30 dollars per tonne more than the Indian prices, according to rice trade officials.
As per the AIREA, India has exported 2.8 million tonnes of basmati rice and 6.1 million tonnes of non-basmati rice during the April-October period of the current fiscal. In the 2019-20 fiscal, total basmati rice exports were at a record 4 million tonnes and non-basmati rice at 5 million tonnes.