India may remain the world's top rice exporter in 2013-14, thanks to a sharp rise in demand for Basmati rice from the US, Europe and West Asian countries and for non-Basmati rice from Africa and other Asian nations. India was the largest rice exporter last year as well.
According to commerce ministry data (April-November 2013), India has exported close to 7 million tonne (mt) of rice and is expected to ship more than 10.5 mt by the end of the current fiscal.
More than 2.3 mt of the aromatic and long-grained Basmati rice and 4.6 mt of non-Basmati rice was exported during the first eight months of the current fiscal.
"Demand for rice has been rising from all across the globe and we expect to reach a record level of exports by the end of the current fiscal,” a commerce ministry official told FE.
The exporters are targeting to achieve more than 10.5 mt of rice exports in 2013-14 while in the previous fiscal, the country shipped 10 mt of the key foodgrain.
Thailand and Vietnam are the other leading rice exporters and ship around 7 mt of rice annually.
Rice exports have been looking northwards ever since India lifted the ban
on non-Basmati rice shipments after four years in September 2011.
The commerce ministry data also indicate that last fiscal, rice exports fetched more than R33,800 crore while in April-November 2013, India earned more than R29,000 crore.
In 2012-13, the country earned more than R19,400 crore from Basmati rice exports while this year, Basmati export earnings have already crossed R17,530 crore.
“We will see a sharp rise in Basmati rice exports in the December-March period as demand has been rising sharply,” a leading rice exporter said.
Apart from Iran, other key destinations for Indian Basmati are Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Kuwait and Iraq. Non-Basmati rice is exported to mostly African countries, including Nigeria and Senegal, besides other Asian countries.