Sources Hint: Global Rice Price Hike To Affect Liberia

Credible sources have hinted that the Indian Government has increased surcharge on rice production thereby affecting the exportation of the commodity to the global market and it could lead to the increase in the price of rice globally. 

In lieu of this information, it is gathered that the Government of Liberia(GoL) held talks with the major importers of rice to see how best Liberia can have a stable market on a win -win situation. 

According to our sources, the GoL upon receiving the news, immediately convened a meeting with the importers to find a way out. Our sources said the government and the importers are concluding on a solution to stabilize the situation in Liberia and to make sure that the commodity is always available on the Liberian market. 

The highly placed sources stated that Liberia’s Minister of Commerce and Industry Amin Modad met with the importers this weekend in a very tight meeting to discuss the situation.

One source said the importers asked the Ministry of Commerce to increase the price of rice to US$20 for retail in order for them to meet the global market crises but the Ministry of Commerce rejected the importers' request and pleaded with them to be reasonable.

On the other hand, the importers argued that they couldn't do business at a loss because the government wants to please its citizens.

"The meeting was heated and the government stood it grounds that the 25k India PARBOIL rice cannot be sold for $20 on the retail market. The rice is currently sold for $17.50 but because of the global economy crises and the war in the middle East, India has increased the price of the commodity. Our investigation uncovered that this situation started in October 2023 during the George Weah administration,” one of the sources  asserted.

" The Rice Importers sent a letter to the previous administration in October 2023 requesting an increase in the price of rice from $17.50 to $20. However, the request was not fulfilled due to political considerations during the election period," another source said.

It can be recalled that in February of this year, the importers wrote a letter to the new administration outlining the reasons for their price increase request, which included:  imposing an additional 20% charge, lengthened shipping routes through the Suez Canal due to the war in the Middle East, resulting in increased transportation costs from APM Terminal, Med-Tech, NPA, LRA, etc.

Despite all of these circumstances faced by the importers, our source said the Minister of Commerce, Amin Modad appealed to the importers not to raise the price due to the new government and the fact that rice is a politically sensitive commodity. After a meeting, the Importers and the Ministry of Commerce and Industry (MoCI) agreed upon the following measures including the reduction in the price to US$16.50 and that the importers invest in local rice production.

 “The agreement was contingent on the importers bringing rice and selling it at $16.50 until May while observing if the Indian government would reduce tariffs.

4. On May 14, the importers once again wrote to the government requesting an increase in the price to $21, citing the previous reasons, as well as an additional 4% increase imposed by the Indian government. The following decisions were reached:

  1. The price would be increased to $18.50.

   2. The importers agreed to provide different varieties of rice at the lower price.

   3. Assurances were given that there would be no shortages in the market.

   4. The importers made an initial commitment of $200,000 for local rice production and expressed intentions to increase the investment in the future." Our source narrated.

Economic experts believe that the best solution to this situation is for Liberia to begin to invest in local rice production.