India has reduced the export duty on parboiled rice from 20% to 10%, the government announced in a Friday notification. The decision comes as the country’s rice inventories grow and farmers prepare to harvest a new crop in the coming weeks.
This cut in export duty is expected to lower India’s export prices, increase shipments, and push competing countries like Thailand, Vietnam, Pakistan, and Myanmar to reduce their prices.
India had initially imposed the 20% duty on parboiled rice exports in 2023 due to lower-than-normal rainfall affecting its crop. In the same notification, the government also announced a reduction in export duties for brown and husked rice to 10%.
The changes take effect immediately.
Additionally, the export duty on white rice has been eliminated, but the government has not clarified whether private traders can resume exports or if the trade will remain limited to government-to-government transactions.
Earlier this month, the government removed the minimum export price for basmati rice, addressing farmers’ concerns over limited access to profitable markets in Europe, the Middle East, and the United States.
As of September 1, rice stocks at the Food Corporation of India stood at 32.3 million metric tons, a 38.6% increase from the previous year. With ample reserves, the government has more flexibility to ease export restrictions.
Encouraged by a strong monsoon season, farmers have sown rice on 41.35 million hectares this year, up from 40.45 million hectares last year and exceeding the five-year average of 40.1 million hectares.
