Non-boiled rice OMS pushes up parboiled coarse rice price

The price of parboiled course rice, consumed largely by low-income people, has increased unusually before the boro harvest as the government sold non-boiled rice through its open market sales network in the past week, market people said.
Rice prices showed a declining trend in two or three weeks as boro harvest was nearing but in the past week, rice prices marked a fresh uptrend.
‘As non-boiled rice was sold in the week in some southern districts from OMS outlets, the demand for parboiled coarse rice increased, pushing up its price,’ said Pradyut Sarker, a trader in Dinajpur. Pradyut supplies rice in bulk to wholesalers in Dhaka and elsewhere.
On the wholesale market, the price of parboiled coarse rice increased by Tk 25–35 a maund (37.3kg) in the period. Retailers in the capital increased the price by Tk 1-2 a kilogram.
‘Traditionally, the poor people do not eat cooked non-boiled rice and therefore they returned to the market in the past week, pushing up the demand and prices of coarse rice,’ said Abul Hossain, a wholesaler at Santahar in Bogra.
But for some areas in Chittagong and Sylhet, people in whole of Bangladesh usually consume parboiled rice.
In its import drive, the government a few months ago procured a significant quantity of non-boiled rice as this category is cheaper.
Rice traders, meanwhile, said a fresh increase in rice prices is a temporary phenomenon and they said rice prices would now increase in the coming weeks.
They said that the early boro harvest, the largest rice crop, is set begin by mid-April.
Although boro harvest usually peaks up after mid-April, in some low-lying areas, early boro harvest begins after mid-March.
Rice prices marked a sharp increase in the last quarter of 2010 as the relatively poor forward stocks from the last boro harvest kept the market shaky.
High rice prices on the international market and limited availability, as Indian stopped export, moreover, held back the Bangladesh government and private sector importers from procuring enough stocks.
Read the original story on the daily New Age