–with two Jamaican companies

THE Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB) and two Jamaican companies recently signed agreements that would see Guyana exporting rice to Jamaica — 48,000 tonnes in 2015 — almost doubling in 2016.An Agriculture Ministry press release has said the two agreements were signed between the GRDB and the Jamaica Rice Milling Company Limited and Musson (Jamaica) Limited for the importation of a total of 80,000 tonnes of rice from Guyana during 2016.

The agreements seek to organize the supply of rice to the Jamaican market, and prevent underpricing and under-invoicing by suppliers.

The agreement allows the Jamaican companies to buy rice from licensed rice millers/exporters in Guyana, and minimum orders of 1,500 tonnes will be given to mills for export.

In addition to committing to import increased volumes of rice, the companies have also established a price schedule with the minimum price to be paid for white rice being US$400 per tonne.

Prior to these agreements, the Agriculture Ministry noted, Guyanese exporters were receiving prices ranging from US$345 to US$370 per tonne. This means that Guyanese millers will earn between US$30 and US$55 additional per tonne of rice exported to Jamaica, or between US$2.4 million and US$4.4 million additionally per annum.

HIGHER PADDY PRICE
With the increased price for rice, millers are expected to offer a higher price for paddy. For the first (spring) crop of 2016, some mills have been paying between G$2,200 (grade C) and G$ 2,700 (grade A) per bag of paddy. Millers have already begun to receive orders.

One rice miller which has received a 3,000-tonne order hailed the agreement as a very positive step in the development of the rice industry of Guyana. Its owner has stated that he is “very happy with the agreement that the GRDB has signed with the two companies in Jamaica.”

The GRDB will continue to provide marketing and business facilitation services to all stakeholders in the industry in its efforts at building a strong and sustainable rice industry.