Even though the government has imposed a ban on exports of aromatic rice and the new season rice is arriving in the market, its prices have not decreased at all.
Retailers said that almost all varieties of aromatic rice are packaged and marketed by big brand companies. So, rice is sold in the market at the price set by them.
In the market, loose chinigura rice, one of the most popular varieties of aromatic rice, is being sold at Tk140-150 per kg while different brands of packaged chinigura rice are selling at Tk 160-180 per kg.
Apart from this, packaged kalijira rice, another popular variety, is being sold at Tk160-165 per kg.
Traders said the prices of rice remained the same a couple of months ago.
According to the Consumers Association of Bangladesh (CAB) data, kalijira rice was sold at Tk 110-120 per kg and chinigura rice at Tk 140-160 per kg in the capital’s retail markets last Thursday. The CAB data shows that the prices of rice were the same in early November as well.
Dr. Md Mofizul Islam, Director of Export Affairs of Plan Quarantine Wing of Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE), told The Business Post that aromatic rice is mainly produced during the Aman season, which is going on now.
In last October, the prices of all types of aromatic rice began to rise rapidly. As a result, the government banned exports of aromatic rice like parboiled rice aiming to bring down its prices.
“Even though the price did not decrease at that time, the growth trend stopped and settled. As new rice is coming to the market now, the price should come down,” he added.
According to Export Policy Order, the export of rice from Bangladesh is prohibited at all times. However, there is an opportunity to export aromatic rice with the permission from the government.
In July 2021, the government allowed 28 companies to export 25 thousand tonnes of aromatic rice. Out of the total, 6 thousand 756 tonnes of aromatic rice was exported. But export was banned in February 2022.
Export of aromatic rice was allowed again on July 30 this year. The Ministry of Commerce informed 28 companies that the companies which received approval earlier can export 18,244 tonnes of aromatic rice by June 30, 2024.
According to the CAB data, the price of chinigura rice, which could be bought at Tk135 per kg in November last year, increased to Tk160 in July this year. The data showed that the price of aromatic rice increased by 19 per cent in a span of six months.
As a result, on October 24 this year, considering the food situation of the country, the government again banned exports of fragrant rice in addition to ordinary rice.
After the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Planning and Distribution Committee took this decision, the parties concerned were informed in a letter.
According to the Ministry of Commerce, the average annual production of aromatic rice in the country is 18-20 lakh tonnes. And 10 thousand tonnes are exported on average every year. The rest is used to meet the meet of the country.
This rice is exported to more than 130 countries of the world, including United Arab Emirates, various European countries, United States, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, and South Korea through various corporate organisations.
Although different types of aromatic rice are produced in the country, only a few types of rice, including chinigura, kalijira, kataribhog, chini atap and binni are sold more in the local markets.
Aromatic rice exported from the country includes kalijira, kalijira TPL-62, chinigurda, chini atap, chini kanai, badshavog, kataribhog, madanbhog, randhunipagal, banshful, jatabansful, binnaful, tulsimala, tulsi atap, tulsi mani, and madhumala apart from khorma, sakkur khorma, nuniya, pashushail, and dulabhog etc.
Bangladesh started exporting fragrant rice since FY2009-10. In the first year, 663 tonnes of fragrant rice were exported. The export volume increased to 10 thousand 879 tonnes in the fiscal year 2019-20.
According to the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) data, $86 lakh worth of aromatic rice was exported in FY2019-20 while $85 lakh in FY2020-21 and $51 lakh in FY2021-22.
