Latin America opens doors to Indian basmati rice for first time ever : Rashtra News A new front has been opened for the export of basmati rice as Latin America (LatAM) has opened doors to Indian basmati rice for the first time. The LatAm countries have sent import enquiries to Indian basmati exporters who said
The ongoing conflict between Hamas militants and Israel is likely to impact India s ambitions of playing a bigger role in global trade. The recently announced India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEEC) may be affected by the conflict, leading to concerns in the markets. Oil prices have surged, gold demand has increased, and Indian stocks have tumbled due to worries about the impact of the Israel Palestine conflict
The precise route map of the corridor will be figured out when the stakeholders meet in the next two months. But a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) unveiled on the sidelines of the G20 leaders meeting shed light on its broader contours — a transit through India, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Israel, and Europe. The proposal also includes a new railway line across the Arabian peninsula, with cables for electricity and digital connectivity and pipes for clean hydrogen running in parallel.
Exporters and government officials in India are divided on the correct market price of food grains and onions, on which customs duty is calculated. The lack of a proper system to calculate the tax has led to under-invoicing by some traders to avoid customs duty and the illegal shipment of banned commodities. In response, the government has announced that only export contracts with a minimum price of $1,200 per tonne will be cleared for shipments under the basmati rice category. Both onion and rice exporters are now calling for customs duty to be fixed per kilogram of the commodity exported.
Traders of basmati rice are concerned that the enforcement of a minimum export price (MEP) of $1,200/tonne by the Indian government will lead to a decline in sales overseas. The All-India Rice Exporters Association (AIREA) has stated that this MEP will act as a deterrent to exports. More than 80% of basmati rice exported was sold at rates lower than this MEP. Traders fear that export volumes will decline, which will negatively impact the income of basmati farmers. The government claims that the average price of basmati exported in August was $1,214/tonne, while AIREA argues that it was $1,106/tonne in the first quarter of 2023-24.