Non-basmati rice exporters fear that the currency crisis in Nigeria could pull down shipments of the grain by up to a tenth this year. Nigeria, one of the big importers of Indian non-basmati rice in Africa, recently stopped dollar sales to importers of rice and other commodities in the country, to protect its dwindling forex reserves and boost domestic cereal production.

“There are confusing signals from Nigeria and shipments have slowed down. In fact, the Nigerian move on forex sale to exporters will affect rice shipments of all origin. We expect it could impact our overall shipments by about 10 per cent this year,” said BV Krishna Rao, Managing Director of Pattabhi Agro Foods, a large exporter.

Nigeria is one of the largest buyers of par-boiled rice and it is estimated that Indian exporters account for close to half of the 2.5 million tonnes that it imports. The bulk of the Indian rice sold to Nigeria is through global traders such as Platinum Corp and Louis Dreyfus. Some shipments are routed to Nigeria through countries such as Benin.

A fall in the local currency, niara against the dollar, along with the sharp decline in crude oil prices and the change in Government have impacted rice imports. However, payments have not been hit as Indian exporters route their shipments through global traders.

The new government in Nigeria is yet to approve rice imports. “It is [only] a matter of time before they open up. The stocks are down and they’ll have to import. Ultimately the demand will come up,” an official at a trading house said. Back home, the drop in demand from countries such as Nigeria has not impacted paddy prices as the Government has procured more crop this year.

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