Wholesale rice prices up 7% as West Asia ceasefire fuels export rush

Kolkata: Rice prices in India increased up to 7% at the wholesale level in the past two days, after the US-Iran ceasefire triggered a rush of orders for exports to the Middle East and the US.

The rebound follows an up to 6% fall in prices after the Iran war caused disruptions in maritime traffic.

"The impact will be felt at the retail level within the next fortnight," said Dev Garg, vice-president of the Indian Rice Exporters Federation (IREF). The conflict has led to severe trade disruptions, with 400,000 tonnes of basmati consignments stranded at ports or in transit, impacting export cycles.


Payment disruptions are also significant, said Mohan Ramaswamy, cofounder and executive officer of Rubix Data Sciences, a credit assessment firm. According to him, ₹2,000-2,500 crore of exporter payments remain stuck, particularly in markets like Iran due to banking and settlement issues.

But the news of ceasefire has created a positive sentiment in the rice trade, with exporters getting ready to ship both basmati and non-basmati rice to the West Asian nations. "Basmati exporters have already kept containers ready at the Mundra and Kandla ports and consignments will start moving from Monday," said Satish Goel, chairman of the All India Rice Exporters Association.