Local rice exporters have given the assurance that they will honour export commitments to CARICOM, including Jamaica, the Ministry of Agriculture announced in a release yesterday.
In response to a report in a Jamaican newspaper and reprinted in yesterday’s edition of Stabroek News about local exporters being “cagey about long-term rice contracts” Minister of Agriculture Robert Persaud said he was told by the exporters that they are “reluctant to sell for the entire crop and this is because the paddy market in Guyana is very volatile and they cannot place a final cost for the acquisition of the paddy.”
This situation will change as soon as the harvesting is completed. The release further noted that the price of paddy started this season at $3,200 and it is now $5,000 per bag. “The millers do not want to commit to prices and in the future have to renegotiate. This may seem as bad business by some, but they are only playing it safe,” the release quoted the minister as saying. Persaud met with rice exporters on Wednesday to discuss the export of the commodity and its availability for the local market.
Three millers have indicated that they have contracts with their Jamaican partners. Golden Fleece Rice Mill and Cane Grove Rice Mill have contracts with the Jamaican Rice Mill and Nand Persaud & Sons Ltd has a contract with a buyer, Horizon Distributors.
Persaud, meantime, pointed out that the government is ensuring that there is fairness in the business environment for the sale and purchase of paddy, but he said “we will not fix the price for the commodity.”
However, the government is closely monitoring the situation and is always ready to assist the Jamaican buyers, Persaud added.
According to the agriculture minister, the adequacy of supply to meet regular export market demands will not be the problem. Surging demand on the world market, he noted, has made it imperative for strict monitoring of exports to be put in place to ensure local consumers get their regular quota of 50,000 tonnes per annum.
The first crop of 2008 will be one of the largest, the release stated, but the price for rice globally has increased by 55 percent over last year.
A Guyana delegation is expected to visit Jamaica next week to hold talks with government agencies and rice importers during a Caribbean Rice Association workshop entitled ‘Facilitating Rice Trade within the CARICOM Region’.
Meanwhile Persaud has reiterated that Guyana does not support US rice being imported into the region without paying the relevant CET. US rice is highly subsidized and creates unfair competition with Guyana rice, the release noted.
