Rice exports are affected by a lack of containers and an unfavorable exchange rate

The lack of containers and the unfavorable exchange rate in the first months of 2022 harmed rice exports (husk base) in April.

The volume of shipments in the first four months of the year totaled 67.7 thousand tonnes, well below the 180 thousand tonnes shipped abroad last March, according to the Brazilian Rice Industry Association (Abiarroz) based on data from the Ministry of Economy.

“We’re having many problems getting the rice out of the country due to the lack of containers. This issue originated with the covid-19 pandemic and has lately worsened China’s most recent lockdowns. The closure of Chinese ports, particularly the port of Shanghai, significantly decreased the supply of containers globally,” says the director of International Affairs at Abiarroz, Gustavo Trevisan.

According to him, even alternatives such as renting spaces in the holds of ships, sending rice in big bags, a kind of package that can contain up to a ton, are not enough to alleviate the problems in the flow of exports.

“There is a global shortage of containers, which are stalled in China. This also caused a reduction in the supply of ships to use spaces rented out in their holds, making sea freight more expensive,” he explains.

See below the track record of Brazilian rice shipments from January 2021 to February 2022. The data below was provided by Datamar.

Brazilian Rice Exports | Jan 2021 – Feb 2022 | TEU

Source: DataLiner (click here to request a demo)

While foreign sales shrank, rice imports leaped in April.

Brazilian purchases last month totaled 178,100 tonnes compared to 106,800 tonnes in March this year.

According to Trevisan, this is due to supply retention in the field, which is partly influenced by the adverse exchange rate.

Also, according to Abiarroz, in the first four months of 2022 (January to April), rice exports totaled 518.2 thousand tonnes, a volume well above the 318.8 thousand tonnes shipped in the same period of 2021.

Source: Canal Rural

To read the full original article, please go to:

https://www.canalrural.com.br/noticias/agricultura/falta-de-conteineres-e-cambio-afetam-exportacoes-de-arroz-diz-abiarroz/

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