Industry officials told Reuters that nearly a third of India’s rice exports for this month are stuck due to a lack of freight trains and most traders have stopped signing February export contracts.
The slowdown in exports from India, the world’s largest rice exporter, has allowed rival suppliers such as Thailand, Myanmar and Vietnam to increase overseas sales at higher prices.
Slowing exports may force the Indian government to increase procurement from farmers.
More than 500,000 tonnes of non-basmati rice, which needs to be transported to ports from the central state of Chhattisgarh on India’s east coast, are stuck due to lack of goods trains, dealers said.
They are part of about 1.5 million tonnes of rice that India had planned to export this month.
Nitin Gupta, vice-president of rice business at agricultural commodity trader Olam India, said, “Goods cannot move from the producing centers to the ports due to the paucity of freight trains.”
“There is no clarity on the availability of trains so no one is offering fresh goods.”
Railway officials have diverted wagons to ship fertilizers and service thermal coal power plants to ensure adequate power supply this winter after power plants ran short of coal a few months ago.
Himanshu Aggarwal, executive director of India’s largest Satyam Balaji, said delays in Indian shipments are causing serious problems to exporters as vessel rates have risen to $30,000 a day and some exporters are facing $500,000, eroding their entire margins. will have to pay up to Rice exporter.
Traders began to quote higher prices for overseas shipments to cover higher late fee charges, and the price of 5% broken rice in India rose to $380 a tonne, the highest in six months. Is.
Rice Exporters Association of India President BV Krishna Rao said high prices and shipping delays are causing some buyers to turn to rival suppliers such as Thailand and Myanmar.
Thailand’s 5% broken rice prices last week hit an all-time high of $404-$405 per tonne since mid-July 2021.
“We have requested the commerce and industry ministry to help us by increasing the availability of railway wagons,” Rao said.
India’s commerce and industry ministries and railways did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Monday.
Earlier traders used to switch to road transport in the absence of railway wagons, but truckers have significantly increased freight charges in the last six months after diesel prices hit a record high, a dealer at a global trading firm said. .
“At least for about a month’s shipments, Asian and African buyers are going to Thailand, Myanmar and Pakistan. Indian exports may fall in the March quarter,” he said.
India accounted for nearly half of global rice shipments in 2021, according to provisional government data, as its exports rose 45% from 2020 to a record 21.4 million tonnes, or more than the combined exports of the next three biggest exporters Thailand, Vietnam and Pakistan .
Himanshu of Satyam Balaji said India’s rice production has reached a record high in the current year and prices are still competitive, but logistics constraints are limiting exports.
This story has been published without modification in text from a wire agency feed.
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