China imports rice from India
China imports rice from India
Varanasi: To meet its requirement, China has started importing rice from India. As reported by the Reuters, China has started importing Indian rice for the first time in at least three decades due to tightening supplies and an offer from India of sharply discounted prices.
India is the world’s biggest exporter of rice and China is the biggest importer. Beijing imports around four million tonnes of rice annually but has avoided purchases from India, citing quality issues.
The breakthrough comes at a time when political tensions between the two countries are high because of a border dispute in the Himalayas.
It is reported that for the first time China has made rice purchases. They may increase buying next year after seeing the quality of Indian crop. Indian traders have contracted to export 100,000 tonnes of broken rice for December -February shipments at around $300 per tonne.
China’s traditional suppliers, such as Thailand, Vietnam, Myanmar and Pakistan, have limited surplus supplies for export and were quoting at least $30 per tonne more compared with Indian prices.
