Brazil to import rice to dodge price speculation after floods

In a bid to avert a surge in the price of rice in Brazil, the country plans to buy the product already industrialized and packaged on the international market. The initial green light covers the import of 200 thousand tons from producing nations in Mercosur—Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay, and occasionally Bolivia. The information was given Tuesday (May 7) by Brazilian Minister for Agriculture and Livestock Carlos Fávaro. The total imported could reach 1 million tons.

This is one of the effects of the floods in Rio Grande do Sul, he noted. The southern state accounts for 70 percent of Brazilian rice production.

“The problem is, we’re likely going to lose a portion of what’s in the fields and in the warehouses and silos that have been flooded. Another challenge at this moment is the logistical infrastructure to bring [the produce] from Rio Grande do Sul to consumer centers,” he went on to say.

The funds for the government’s purchase of stocks of packaged rice will be made possible through the opening of extraordinary credit, which requires Congress to recognize the public calamity in the state.

“If we import quickly, we can keep [the price] stable,” he argued. The rest should be imported following market assessment, the minister stated.

Production

Brazil produces around 10.5 million tons of rice, of which 7 to 8 million come from producers in Rio Grande do Sul. Annual domestic consumption (12 million tons) exceeds national production and the country already imports the grain on a yearly basis.