India restricted its rice exports after Russia scrapped an agreement to export Ukrainian grain across the Black Sea. White rice that is not Basmati rice can no longer be exported, the Ministry of Consumer Affairs in New Delhi said Friday.
Apart from export duties, India’s rice exports are steadily increasing.
Peggy and Marco Lachmann-Anke
This is about a quarter of all rice exports. The move was meant to dampen rising rice prices for consumers in India, he said. There are no changes to the export guidelines for the remaining rice.
Export restrictions in India could further increase global rice prices and increase food insecurity, data analysis platform Gro Intelligence recently warned.
The ministry in New Delhi stressed that rice exports from India had recently increased significantly – despite the 20 per cent export duty on white rice introduced last September. The increase in exports was partly related to extreme geopolitical and climatic conditions in rice-producing countries.
The global food situation is already tight with Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine, which has pushed up wheat prices. This week, Moscow canceled an agreement to export Ukrainian grain across the Black Sea, despite international pleas.
