As the Andhra Pradesh government opened up the Kakinada deep-water port for rice exports after the Anchorage Port faced severe backlog with increase in the export volume, outbound shipment of the grain has picked up once again.

A Reuters report noted that the normal waiting period at the Kakinada Anchorage Port has usually been one week but the increase in the demand for rice led to congestions. The waiting period touched four weeks because of congestion.  

India is rapidly turning out to be the most crucial supplier of rice in the world. Supply of the staple cereal from other major rice exporting economies including Thailand and Vietnam fell sharply in 2020, due to reduced production after floods and droughts ravaged those countries. 

Besides, compared to the Indian rice, the price of the grain supplied by Thailand and Vietnam is almost $100 to $150 higher per tonne. “From Saturday we have started using Kakinada deep water port,” news website Moneycontrol quoted B.V. Krishna Rao, president of the Rice Exporters Association of India as saying.

India has started supplying broken rice to several new markets including China, Vietnam, Malaysia besides Bangladesh besides increasing the quantum to its existing markets.

The price sensitive African countries have also increased their rice orders from India, as its role in maintaining global food security becomes more pronounced. The Rice Exporters Association said that the demand for rice globally is likely to remain high through 2021 as Covid 19 related uncertainties continue. “We expect the year 2021 to be very good for the rice exporters of the country with higher production and competitive pricing,” Vinod Kaul, executive director, All India Rice Exporters’ Association told IndiaNarrative.com. Kaul added that with increased rice production, India has sufficient stocks to meet domestic demands including the quantum required for the public distribution system (PDS) and expand its shipment to all other importing countries.