For China, India was the top rice supplier during Jan-Aug this year

beijingwalker · Sep 30, 2022

For China, India was the top rice supplier during Jan-Aug this year

September 29, 2022 - Updated 07:43 pm IST | Chennai, September 29

New Delhi topples Vietnam; Beijing’s import of the cereal up 45% overall during the period

BY SUBRAMANI RA MANCOMBU

India displaced Vietnam as the top supplier of rice to China between January and August this year before the Narendra Modi government curbed rice exports from September 9.
According to China’s General Administration of Customs (GAC), the Communist nation’s rice imports increased by 42.5 per cent during the January-August period this year to 4.56 million tonnes (mt) with the value declining by 11.5 per cent.

Used as feed

During the same period a year ago, Beijing imported 3.2 mt of rice, which was 1.5 times more than in 2020. Since 2020, China has increased its rice imports, particularly broken rice which is used for making noodles and as animal feed.
Chinese media said rice was used as feed grain and hence its imports were higher. Lower global prices encouraged more purchases, they claimed quoting experts.

However, trade analysts said the moot point was that Chinese rice imports had increased by 34.8 per cent in August and over 70 per cent in July. They said China probably upped its imports after it realised the impact of the 75-day heatwave that the Communist nation experienced since June.

Heatwave impact

According to the Chinese Agriculture Ministry, the heatwave has affected the paddy crop in southern Chinese provinces such as Jiangsu and Anhui. So far, hardly 15 per cent of its 11.3 million hectares under autumn paddy has been harvested.

Data from Agriculture and Processed Food Products Exports Development Authority (APEDA) showed China was the top importer of rice from India during the April-July period of the current fiscal, buying 1.07 mt. The value of Chinese rice import was $1.90 billion.

The GAC data showed that China imported 0.48 mt of rice in August and in July it almost touched 0.5 mt. Vietnam media reports said Hanoi had lost its status as the top rice exporter to China since the latter cut down imports of glutinous rice.

Indian export curbs

However, the situation is set to change with the Indian government banning exports of non-basmati white rice and broken rice. Last year, broken rice made up over 90 per cent of the rice imports by China from India.

India curbed its rice exports to ensure that its people are not affected by the rise in the prices of the foodgrain, while the Centre is also looking to use the cereal in the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY) scheme, under which people below the poverty line are supplied free foodgrains.

On Wednesday, the Cabinet decided to extend the PMGKAY scheme, set to expire on September 30, to December 31.

India’s export curbs will result in China cutting its rice imports in 2022-23 by 0.5 mt mainly due to the Indian ban on exports of broken rice, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) has said. It also cut India’s exports to 20 mt, including Basmati, from its earlier estimate of 22 mt due to the curbs and higher domestic consumption.

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