India's parboiled, raw rice exports dip for 4th month in a row in May

India’s exports of parboiled rice and raw rice, the two major components in non-basmati rice exports, have dropped for the fourth month running in May 2025 due to tepid demand from African nations who have cut down on purchases due to surplus stocks.

 

The dip in export has come despite India lifting almost all the restrictions on overseas shipments from September 2024.

 

The dip in non basmati rice exports come amid concerns over Israel-Iran conflict impacting basmati rice exports as well.

 

According to a CRISIL report, Iran and Israel accounted for almost 14 per cent of India’s basmati rice exports in the financial year 2025 (FY25).

 

In total, India exported around 20.1 million tonnes of rice in FY25 (both basmati and non-basmati including) to the world markets, making it once again the world’s largest supplier of rice. 

 

Of this, around 5-6 million tonnes was basmati rice exports and the rest was non-basmati rice.

 

Within non-basmati, parboiled rice comprised around 9-9.5 million tonnes making it the largest variety of non-basmati rice exported from India usually while raw rice was around another 4 million tonnes.

 

African nations are a major destination for the non-basmati rice variants. 

 

In FY25 trade data showed that African nations accounted for almost 73 per cent of the total non-basmati rice exported from India.

 

India enjoys a distinct advantage over its competitors when it comes to non-basmati rice exports due to competitive pricing and smooth supplies.

 

Traders and market experts said that African nations had purchased good quantities of Indian non-basmati rice as soon as the ban was lifted in September last year. These countries are now finding it difficult to offload their high-priced inventories which has caused a slump in fresh demand. 

 

Trade data showed that in May 2025, India exported 207,634 tonnes of parboiled rice at an average unit realisation of $455.6 per tonne. This was almost 82 per cent lower than the volume exported in October 2024 (the first month after the ban was lifted).

 

In case of raw rice, exports have fallen from around 691,365.3 tonnes in October 2024 to just around 292984 tonnes in May 2025, a fall of almost 57 per cent. 

 

“India needs to manage the export price realisation of rice in the global market through appropriate timing of information dissemination, policy intervention, reputation management and moderation of demand and supply,” S Chandrasekaran, a leading trade policy analyst said.

 

The slump in exports have also put into question estimates made by international agencies such as USDA (United States Department of Agriculture) which have pegged India’s rice exports in FY26 at an all-time high of almost 25 million tonnes.

 

It projected milled rice production in the 2025-26 marketing season at a record 151 million tonnes on the back of early monsoon onset, abundant precipitation in soil and the government’s higher minimum support price for farmers.