China is forecast to report its highest rice imports in several years at 4.75 million tons for 2021, primarily on increased demand for broken rice from India. With only 1 month of data remaining, China is unlikely to fill its tariff-rate quota (TRQ) for rice at 5.32 million tons, but nevertheless imports have grown substantially this year. Historically, most of the rice imported by China comes from Asian suppliers Vietnam, Burma, Pakistan, and Thailand.
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Aside from Burma, exports from these countries to China have all risen. Surprisingly, the surge in imports was in broken rice. In 2020, broken rice accounted for about one-third of total imports whereas in 2021, broken rice represents 52 percent of imports. Imports from Pakistan jumped from 300,000 tons to 800,000 tons in 2020 for January through November. During the same time, imports from Thailand jumped from 230,000 tons to 500,000 tons. More impressive is the volume of rice from India. In past years, China had not imported more than 50,000 tons of rice from India, as market access was restricted to basmati rice. However, after obtaining access for non-basmati rice, India has exported 1 million tons of broken rice to China in 2021. India’s competitive prices for broken rice relative to domestic prices in China and other competitors have encouraged imports by China. The broken rice is mainly used for animal feed as well as in rice-based liquor manufacturing and in snack food ...
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