Rice Exports up by 43%, earning $23.2 Billion in first half of 2018
As the Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB) wraps up its 2018 first crop, results from January to June show an export volume increase of 87,000 tonnes as compared to the same period last year, according to GRDB General Manager, Nizam Hassan.
“When we look at the figures compared to the first half of 2017, we saw first that the total volume that has been exported is 290,000 tonnes which is 43 percent more than the 203,000 tonnes than was exported during the first half of 2017,” Hassan said.
The increase has so far earned the country GYD$23.2Billion (US$111Million) this year, as against GYD$16.1Billion (US$77Million) last year.
The General Manager credited the increase to the determination of rice producers and millers to meet production targets and more so Guyana’s access to new markets, particularly in Latin America.
“We’ve seen some significant increases in some of the blocks, for example, exports to Latin America jumped by 215 percent. In the first half of 2017. We did 64,000 tonnes as against 202,000+ tonnes in the first half of 2018.”
Mexico and Cuba are the big importers of Guyana rice, taking a total of 133,000 tonnes.
Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo facilitated access to the Mexico market.
For the first crop of 2018, approximately 508,000 tonnes of paddy has been produced equivalent to 330,000 tonnes of rice.
