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.