Indian rice shipping delays come at bad time as consumer demand spikes

* Waiting time for ships to load rice in India at four weeks
* Coronavirus quarantine for crews, container shortage hits
supplies
* Lower Thailand, Vietnam exports add pressure

By Naveen Thukral and Rajendra Jadhav
SINGAPORE/MUMBAI, Jan 6 (Reuters) - The global rice market
is grappling with logistical disruptions at major supply ports
caused by a lack of shipping containers at the same time a
worldwide rush to stockpile food is spurring demand for the
staple grain.
The logistics difficulties illustrate the way the COVID-19
pandemic has upended the global trade in finished goods and raw
commodities.
As the pull of goods to Europe and the United States has
left Asia short of the shipping containers needed to move
materials, rice shipments from both India, the world's biggest
rice exporter, and Thailand, the world's second-biggest
supplier, are facing delays.
In India, ships are waiting up to four weeks to load rice,
according to a Singapore-based executive at one of the world's
leading rice trading companies. Thai exporters expect 2021
shipments should stay depressed after falling by 28% in the
first 11 months of 2020 because of the container issues and the
high price of Thai rice relative to other growers.
But the COVID-19 pandemic has sparked a global surge in
purchases of agricultural products from rice to soybeans, corn
and meat. China, the world's biggest rice consumer, bought
Indian rice in December for the first time, while Vietnam, the
world's No. 3 exporter, has also purchased Indian rice.
"Global food hoarding is one thing that we have been seeing
since late last year but now it shows how delicate the supply
chain is when there was a surprise move by Vietnam to buy Indian
rice," said Stephen Innes, chief global market strategist at
brokerage Axi.
Still, world rice stockpiles are forecast to climb to an
all-time high of 178.2 million tonnes in 2020/21, according to
estimates from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, underscoring
how the issues are around logistics and consumers seeking
lower-priced grains.
"As far as world rice inventories are concerned there are no
major issues. But there is shortage of containers to ship rice
and port delays in India, that are causing concerns," Innes
said.
Thai rice prices surged to their highest since 2013 in April
after top exporter India went into a lockdown to halt the
coronavirus spread and remain 19% higher than a year ago at $513
a tonne. RI-THBKN5-P1
Vietnamese prices RI-VNBKN5-P1 surged to a nine-year high
last week of $502.50 a tonne on concerns of falling exports
because of tightening supply ahead of the harvest that peaks in
February. RIC/AS
That has left buyers with little choice but to seek Indian
rice that sells about $384 per tonne. RI-INBKN5-P1
"There is huge export demand, we are competitive on the
price front, but we are unable to fulfil due to congestion,"
said B.V. Krishna Rao, president of the Rice Exporters
Association of India, who said nearly 20 ships are waiting to
load off the southeast Indian port of Kakinada.
Without containers to move shipments, some exporters are
turning to break bulk ships, but with limited space at ports
this is causing most of the congestion at Kakinada, said
Himanshu Agarwal, executive director at Satyam Balajee, India's
biggest rice exporter.
African rice buyers will likely face the biggest impact from
the rising shipping costs and resultant increase in grain
prices.
"They are mainly small buyers, taking rice in containers.
Container freight from India to Africa, depending on which
country you are looking at, has jumped to $150 a tonne, from $50
a tonne in November," said the Singapore-based rice trader.
Even countries that typically meet their own rice
consumption are importing, adding to the demand pull.
Bangladesh's rice imports may climb to 2 million tonnes in
the year to June, the highest in three years, as local prices
jumped to an all-time high on tight supplies, a senior
government official said on Tuesday. Bangladesh is the world's third-biggest rice producer at
about 35 million tonnes of output, but most of that is used to
feed its population of more than 160 million.

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Global rice inventories https://tmsnrt.rs/2MGGbA1
Vietnam, Thailand rice prices https://tmsnrt.rs/3olxHMp
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