Despite a dip in rice exports within the first six months of the year as compared to 2018, the Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB) says more revenue has been earned during the same period by way of the sale of higher-value products.
Overall, from January to June, the GRDB facilitated the exportation of 297,489 tonnes of rice, bringing in a total of US$123.1 million, representing an increase from US$120.2 million it earned last year after 312,593 tonnes of rice was exported in the same period.
GRDB Head Nizam Hassan credited the increase in revenue to more higher-end products being exported as compared to last year.
As it relates to the individual markets, Hassan told Stabroek News that the Board has not been able to ship rice to the Mexican market for this year since that country has been receiving rice from the American market at a much more competitive price that it could not have matched.
As a result, instead of supplying via contracts, as the GRDB has been doing all the time, Hassan said that it is in discussion with the Embassy of Mexico to establish a trade agreement so that they can have a more structured approach, especially as it relates to quantities.
For the Cuban market, there was also a significant decrease as only 21,723 tonnes of rice were shipped, compared to 44,948 last year for the same period, bringing in revenue of only US$10 million as compared to US$22.2 million last year.
However, Hassan pointed out that the contracts to Cuba were satisfied, despite less rice being exported.
As it relates to Venezuela, Hassan pointed out that there has been a significant increase in exports, moving from 2,770 tonnes of rice from last year to 63,695 tonnes this year, bringing in US$31.6 million this year, which is a stark increase from US$1.4 million last year for the same period.
There was a slight increase to the Holland market, where 19,069 tonnes were exported this year, bringing in US$7 million, as compared to 14,163 tonnes last year that brought in US$5.1 million.
There was also a significant increase in exports to Portugal as 54,124 tonnes were sent this year as compared to 27,057 tonnes last year, bringing in a total revenue of US$20.2 million at the end of July, as compared to US$9.8 million for the same period last year.
The Italian market also saw a big increase as it moved from 1,267 tonnes last year, bringing in US$500,000, to 33,849 tonnes this year, bringing in US$10.5 million.
For Spain, last year, 8,194 tonnes were shipped for US$3.2 million in revenue, as compared to 11,925 tonnes this year, bringing in US$4.5 million.
The United Kingdom also saw a significant increase, moving from 8,431 tonnes last year to 18,246 tonnes this year, bringing in US$5.6 million, an increase from US$2.4 million last year for the same period.
Europe overall saw a significant increase from 63,731 tonnes to 149,255 tonnes, bringing in US$53.4 million, as compared to US$22.6 million last year.
For the same period last year, no rice was shipped to the United States of America’s market, but this year, 232 tonnes have been exported, bringing in US$116,000.
Dominating the exports for this year was white rice, which accounted for 112,578 tonnes for this year, bringing in US$54.5 million, as compared to the 89,678 tonnes last year that brought in US$43.8 million.
Last year, paddy had dominated the exports, standing at 124,200 tonnes, which brought in US$38.5 million. The paddy exports for the first six months of this year stood at 25,223 tonnes, which brought in US$7.2 million.
