NEW DELHI: The Indian team that visited Hanol recently to Contract for rice imports has returned empty-handed. The team “found the price quoted by Vietnam for its one million tons surplus Tice “a bit on the higher side.” However negotiations between the two governments are still on 4nd the deal may be struck later this month.
Vietnam is learnt to have offered ice to India at $195aton whereas its last sale in the international market was for $178 a ton.
Officials expect Vietnam to shortly bring down the prices to an “acceptable level” and imports may well materialize in the next month or so
India is keen to import rice from Vietnam primarily for two reasons one that Vietnam has a large quantity of surplus rice which it wants to off-load in the International market at competitive prices. Secondly India has its funds lying with Vietnam which it had given as aid from time to time for various developmental projects in that country. Since Vietnam is not yet in a position to return money. India wants to use it for rice purchases.
India has embarked on rice imports in view of dismal procure ment of paddy during the current Kharif marketing season and an abnormal upward trend in the open market prices of rice. The price index for rice has gone up by one per cent moving from 243.9 on April 18 to 2463 on May 16.
Rice procurement till May 29 stood at 90.18 lakh tons. Against 113.67 lakh tons in the corresponding period of 1990-01 sea son the sharp decline in procurement in attributed to very low procurement in Andhra Pradesh where in contrast during the 1990-91 season the procurement for the Central pool from Andhra Pradesh had risen sharply from an average of about 15 lakh tons to 33 lakh tons.
Another reason for the tardy procurement has been the fall in the Kharif paddy production in Punjab Haryana UP and Madhya Pradesh
The country’s situation on the wheat front is also not very comfortable. Though that contracted for import of one million tons of Wheat from Canada it will have to contracts for the import of similar quantities in the near future.
Food Ministry sources say the Government will take a decision on further imports later this month after reviewing the position about the availability and requirement under the public distribution system (PDS) until the next rabi season.
The officials say that a favorable monsoon and a good harvest of coarse grains this season will considerably ease pressure on the PDS and may even precluse fresh wheat imports. They point out that the off-take of wheat from fair price shops and coarse grain production are interlinked. The wear coarse grain production is high wheat off-take is low. The excessive demand for wheat despite a bumper crop this year can be attributed to a four million ton short fall in course grain production last kharif.
International wheat suppliers are however confident that India will re-enter the world market for fresh purchases. In fact the US agriculture attache here in this report has stated that India certainly will have to import a substantial amount of wheat during the second half of 1992 because of shortfall in domestic procurement. He expects the procurement to be between 6.5 and seven million tons against the target of nine million tons. Along with the shortfall in procurement the prediction regarding large wheat imports is based on the fact that the Governments carryover stock is barely over two million tons.
Article extracted from this publication >> July 24, 1992
