Rice prices in Ghana to skyrocket after world's largest exporter Indian bans exportation

Rice prices in Ghana to go up after world's largest exporter, Indian bans exportation.

Ghana like many other countries will be reeling from the effects of the decision by the world's largest rice exporter, Indian to place an embargo on the exportation of rice.

Last Thursday, the Indian government banned non-basmati white rice exports to curb its own domestic inflation, raising fears of further increases in global food prices.

India is the world’s largest rice exporter, accounting for more than 40% of global shipments.

India’s move sent the price of rice from several Asian countries higher on global markets, while traders said they expected prices to rise substantially in the coming days.

In 2022, Ghana imported $552million in rice, becoming the 13th largest importer of rice in the world. In the same year, rice was the 3rd most imported product in Ghana. More than $100 million worth of rice was imported from India alone to Ghana according to data from the Observatory of Economic Complexity (OEC).

The shock waves from this embargo will soon hit the shores of Ghana affecting the prices of not just non-basmati rice but basmati rice varieties as well.

According to experts, the ban is the latest blow to the global rice market, whose prices have risen 15%-20% since September 2022.

At this rate, the price of a bag of 50kg non-basmati rice averaging between GHC750 and GHC800 in retail shops is expected to hit GHC1000 and beyond in the coming days.

India is a major supplier of rice to several important markets in Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa, making their populations vulnerable to rice market disruptions. Forty-two countries get more than 50% percent of their total rice imports from India, a significant share not easily substituted with imports from other large exporting countries such as Viet Nam, Thailand, or Pakistan.

In Africa, India’s market share in 2022 exceeded 80% for several countries.