Kakinada: Traders manage to grab orders in December

Kakinada: Rice exporters and those in the shipping trade who depend upon the old anchorage port for sending their shipments have successfully secured rice orders from South African countries.

Nearly 3 lakh tonnes of rice export orders have come to local rice exporters during the month of December. However, the month also poses a discouraging aspect. With the Christmas holidays close, workers in many countries stay away for 20 to 25 days, and therefore there is a lull in rice and other commodity exports during December.

Exporters have to pay demurrage charges as ships are held up in countries without cargo handling taking place. But this year, with rice exporters having secu-red rice orders to the tune of 3 lakh tonnes, the anchorage port will be busy throughout the month.

According to people involved in the trade, Nigeria is the largest rice importer from India. But an unstable government and Christmas festivities have hit rice exports to it from India.

Pakistan, Vietnam, Thailand and Malaysia are some of the other countries competing with India in rice exports. These countries are exporting quality rice at prices cheaper than India.

Exporters say that in India, with paddy rates and the Minimum Support Price (MSP) being fixed by the Union government, competing in the international market was not viable.

“But exports are now giving the local shipping trade a breather,” a rice exporter said.

While exporters may be exultant over the quantum of orders, Ba-rge Owners Association president B. Anubabu said that it was not enough for the old anchorage port, which had thousands of port workers.

Mr Anubabu said that the exporters and the government should attract more cargo, either exports or imports, to the anchorage port and give the port workers a livelihood.