NAGPUR: Rise of US dollar against rupee has made the poor man's food costly and also led to a lopsided exim trade in the region. Nagpur is the biggest centre for exporting non-basmati rice which is mainly par-boiled variety, the lowest grade having a fat grain.
To benefit from falling rupee, exporters are rushing to send their consignments to West Africa the major consumer of the Indian cheap rice owing to poverty there. However, this rush by exporters has also led to a hike of Rs 150 a quintal in the price of parboiled rice in domestic markets. It has now touched Rs 2100 a quintal within a couple of days. There are chances that the price may rise further. This variety of rice is largely consumed in southern states and a dry spell in Andhra Pradesh has already jacked up the prices, say sources in the business.
On the other hand, steel players, who are the main importers in the region, have virtually stopped their foreign transactions. Much of the scrap needed by the steel industry is imported. With that having been almost stopped, there are no incoming containers to take back rice being exported. So much is the demand from exporters that shipping lines are positioning empty containers at Nagpur Inland Container Depot of Concor, a railways subsidiary.
Normally, it is only feasible for a logistics or a shipping operator to bring containers full of imports and then go back with commodities being exported. However, now they are bringing in empty containers which are going back with rice. "This is has led to a major hike in freight rates as liners are covering their cost to keep empty containers here. Over a couple of months ago, freights from Nhava Shewa harbour were at around Rs 1600 a tonne for shipping rice to West Africa. But now ex-Nagpur rates stand at Rs 1950 a tonne," said Shiv Rao from R&Y Logistics, a local company.
The exports from Nagpur have been at 2500 containers in a month, around 40% higher than normal levels, said Rao. So much is the rush that some of the smaller ports in Africa are reportedly congested. Exporters do not mind the high rates as they still make a killing due to the costly dollar, added a source.
A representative of a shipping lines said since not all the lines dealt in rice consignments, inventory management had become a problem. The shipping companies are incurring a loss in some cases but continuing to offer services just to maintain long-term relationship with the clients.
Of course, there was a sharp increase in exports in the last year when the ban on exporting non-basmati rice was lifted. The figures for current year are yet to be complied but there are estimates of around 30 lakh tonnes being shipped so far as against 90 lakh tonnes last year, said Pratap Motwani Secretary of The Itwari Grains and Seeds Merchants Association. However, this has not impacted the rate of other varieties like Chinnor or HMT that is consumed here.
Local grain traders accept that dollar going up had increased exporters. However, a Gondia-based exporter said international demand had been hit due to cheaper rice coming from Vietnam.
Source:-timesofindia.indiatimes.com
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