DILI, 4 august 2023 (TATOLI) – Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry Agusta Junior Trindade said the extreme climate conditions that hit India had an impact on rising rice prices in Timor-Leste.
“We identified the main reasons for the shortage of rice stocks and the slight increase in the price of rice due to the extreme climatic conditions hitting India’s domestic crops and other factors being the process of mobility and transportation as well as import duties. These factors led to a slight increase in the price of 25 kg of rice from the normal price of $15 to $17,” Deputy Trade Minister Agus Junior Trindade told reporters after holding an emergency meeting with four supply companies in Fomento, Thursday.
So far, India is the world’s largest rice exporter, accounting for more than 40% of global shipments. After heavy rains hit Indian domestic crops, Indian Government introduced on july 20 an immediate ban that would stop exporting white rice export to curb domestic inflation.
Last year, India exported 22 million tonnes of rice to 140 countries. comprising roughly 40% of the global cereal trade. Thailand accounted for approximately 15% of the global market demand, while Vietnam contributed 14%.
While according to the Indian Ministry of Consumer Affairs, food and public distribution, International sales of Indian rice soared by 35% in the year to june, contributing to a 3% rise in domestic price over the past month alone.
Concerning the current situation faced by India, Minister Trindade said, the Indian government is currently limiting the export of rice to other countries, including Timor-Leste.
“The Government of India has decided to reduce the amount of rice exports to other countries and not allow the commercialization of rice for international trade. This was done to ensure sufficient availability of white rice in the Indian market,” he said.
G2G agreement to request rice quota
However, MCI will seek to grant government-to-government (G2G) approval to request rice quotas from India. The government must also find solutions to ensure the availability of sufficient local rice stocks to meet national consumption in Timor-Leste.
According to Trindade, MCI will make an emergency visit to the National Logistics Center (NLC) to identify the total local rice needs for the next six months in 2023, without importing rice from abroad.
“So far, we have relied more on national importers to procure rice from India to meet national consumption needs from August to December 2023, and the government will look for other alternatives by increasing local rice to meet national consumption,” he said.
Meanwhile, ‘KREATIVU FURAK’ supplier manager, Yati Zaka, said that KREATIVU FURAK had purchased 848 sacks of rice (21,000 tonnes of rice) from India and was still in the process of being shipped to Timor-Leste.
“The price of rice always changes and depends on the situation, so for 21,000 tons of rice we bought a tonne for around USD 490-520. So we continue to import rice to ensure stock is available to meet national market demand. But we will not guarantee a normal price because it depends on international prices,” She said.
In addition, the ALFA Dili Company is currently transporting more than 200 containers from India to Timor-Leste, while PERISOS is also procuring 7,500 tons of rice from India to Timor-Leste.
It is known that the four main suppliers are PERISSOS, LISUN, ALFA DILI, and KREATIVU FURAK.
Journalist: José Belarmino de Sa
Editor: Nelia B.
