Leading UAE retailers said India’s export ban on non-basmati white rice would not have an immediate impact on them as they have sufficient reserves. India banned the export of some varieties of white rice last month to curb rising prices in the local market after heavy rain disrupted the sowing season.
Last week, the UAE took the step of announcing a suspension of rice exports for four months, including rice brought in from India, a move designed to safeguard consumers from inflation and shortages. The country’s biggest retailers told The National that rice supply was adequate as they kept at least six months of essential commodities in reserve.
Some stores in Dubai and Sharjah that specialise in Indian products temporarily placed a two-bag limit on sales of white rice. India’s export ban does not apply to basmati rice, a long-grain variety better known overseas.
A popular Indian store, Al Adil, temporarily placed notices in shops to alert customers that they would only be allowed to buy two packets of some varieties of white rice.
India is the world’s largest rice exporter and accounts for more than 40 per cent of global rice exports. Torrential rain flooded paddy farms in June and disrupted the sowing of rice in several Indian states, with the government keen to keep a watch on the harvest.
The country’s export ban on non-basmati white rice varieties until November worried global markets already shaken by high food prices after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Experts said the move was aimed to protect the underprivileged who depended on rice as a staple food.
