By Our Correspondent
The Indian Central government has banned the export of a variety of rice and imposed an export duty on some other varieties, according to FleetMon.

It stated: “This has caused the rice cargo in transit to be stranded. Close to 20 ships are stuck at major Indian ports, waiting to load over 600,000 tons of rice all the while sellers are forced to pay hefty demurrage charges for these vessels.

“This unexpected and sudden ban has caused the exporters to bear the brunt of the short-term damages. There is 600,000 tons of rice waiting to be loaded onto berthed vessels, apart from the 400,000 tons stuck in port warehouses and container freight stations. Exporters fear that they might incur huge losses if the government demanded the extra 20% duty on the cargo in transit, as international importers are unlikely to pay any extra charges after the agreement has been signed.
“However, The Directorate General of Foreign Trade of India has sought the details of stranded rice cargo for which agreements and LCs (Letters of credit) pre-date the restrictions. Under similar circumstances in the past, the Indian government has provided exemptions to stranded cargoes.
“The announcement regarding the export restrictions was made on September 8th. In this announcement, the export of broken rice was banned and a 20% duty was imposed on unmilled white rice, semi-milled rice, wholly milled rice, and husked brown rice. Basmati Rice, which is the most renowned variety of rice from India was unaffected by the bans. Most of the delayed cargo was headed to China, Senegal, Sri Lanka, and the United Arab Emirates.”
It added: “There has been lesser rainfall in the major rice-producing states of India, and according to government estimates, the summer-sown rice output is expected to fall by 6%. The Finance Ministry of India stated that containing inflation and ensuring food security were the prime concerns behind the decision of placing export restrictions.”