India Bans Rice Exports, Spurs Hikes In Prices

India on Thursday ordered a halt to its largest rice export category in a move that will roughly halve shipments by the world’s largest exporter of the grain, triggering fears of further inflation on global food markets, CNN reported.

Photo Insert: India accounts for more than 40% of world rice exports.

The government said it was imposing a ban on non-basmati white rice as retail rice prices climbed 3% in a month after late but heavy monsoon rains caused significant damage to crops.

India accounts for more than 40% of world rice exports, and low inventories with other exporters mean any cut in shipments could inflate food prices already driven up by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last year and erratic weather.

Rice is a staple for more than 3 billion people, and nearly 90% of the water-intensive crop is produced in Asia, where the El Niño weather pattern usually brings lower rainfall. Global prices are already hovering at their highest level in 11 years.

“In order to ensure adequate availability of non-basmati white rice in the Indian market and to allay the rise in prices in the domestic market, India has amended the export policy,” the food ministry said in a statement that cited a 11.5% increase in retail prices over 12 months.

The category impacted, non-basmati white and broken rice, accounted for around 10 million tons of a total of 22 million tons of Indian rice exports last year. The government clarified late on Thursday that parboiled rice, which represented 7.4 million tons of exports in 2022, was not included in the ban, Reuters also reported.

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