Traders hike rice prices as India orders export halt

Hari Sharan Basnet of Machhegaun, Kirtipur had bought a 25-kg bag of Pearl brand rice from India for Rs2,150 two weeks ago.

Last week, after he heard that India had banned rice exports, he went to buy another bag expecting the price to increase. And so it had; he was too late.

“On Monday, I paid Rs2,451 for the same rice that I bought two weeks ago,” he told the Post. “I bought it anyway.”

Basnet says the same bag of rice cost Rs1,650 last year, which means the price went up by Rs800 per bag in one year.

On July 20, Nepal’s southern neighbour ordered a halt to rice exports triggering fears of further inflation in global food markets.

India, the world's largest exporter of rice, said it was imposing a ban on the export of non-Basmati white rice to keep its food reserve intact amid the threat of El Niño disruptions.

The El Niño climate event, which is caused by warmer surface waters in the Pacific Ocean, leads to an increased risk of heavy rainfall and droughts in certain parts of the world.

Concerns over the return of the El Niño weather phenomenon have already driven benchmark prices to a two-year high, heightening fears of potential crop damage and exacerbating the upward trajectory of prices in the global rice market, according to reports.

reference : kathmandu post