The Hindu Business Line : S.India rice exporters seek review of shipment curbs

Putting pressure
30 exporters met in Hyderbad on Wednesday and decided to press for the removal of the restrictive policies.
The minimum export price of $650 a tonne set by the Centre is seen as ‘non-realistic’.

G. Srinivasan

New Delhi, March 12

Stung by the recent notification of the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) restricting export to four designated ports and fixing a high minimum export price (MEP) for non-basmati rice, the South India Rice Exporters Association has pleaded with the Commerce Ministry to review these decisions as, according to it, they seriously impinge on the exports of premium non-basmati rice exports.

Meet in Hyderbad

As many as 30 rice exporters from the South — Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu — on Wednesday met in Hyderabad and decided to press for removal of these restrictive policies on non-basmati rice exports. In a communication to the Commerce Secretary, Mr Gopal K Pillai, the Association sought immediate inclusion of three major Southern ports – Chennai, Kochi and Vishakapatnam for export of non-basmati rice.

When contacted, the Association’s Secretary, Mr P. Vishnu Kumar, told Business Line that the port restrictions confining rice exports to JNPT, Mumbai, Kakinada and Kolkata would in no way help export of non-basmati rice premium varieties such as Sona masuri, Ponni and Matta (red-boiled rice) as Kakinada port in Andhra Pradesh does not have container facilities to ship rice.

Average export

He said on an average 30,000 tonnes per annum of these premium rice varieties were being exported in containers and the latest restrictions would aggravate the position of these exporters if other container cargo ports such as Chennai, Kochi and Vizag are excluded.

Moreover, the latest port restrictions do not allow export from inland container depots (ICDs) as these exporters have been using ICD in Hyderabad. This has further compounded their difficulty, he added.

‘Unrealistic’ price

Referring to the high minimum export price set for non-basmati rice by the DGFT recently, Mr Vishnu Kumar felt that as of now these non-basmati premium varieties are fetching slightly above $500 a tonne and the realistic MEP would be in the range of $525-$550 a tonne and not the “unrealistic” $650 a tonne set by the Government.

He said that the March 5 notification needs clarification and review so that non-basmati premium varieties export could be undertaken without adding to their already high transaction cost.

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