Rice exports increase in Guyana for 2019
The Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB) said it recorded a 20 per cent
increase in revenue after exporting more than half a million tonnes of paddy,
rice and rice by-products last year.
In a statement, the GRDB said that revenue from exports totalled US$222.7
million when compared to the US$186 million the previous year.
It said the country exported 526,617 tonnes of paddy, rice and rice
by-products last year as compared to 470,312 tonnes in 2018, an increase of 12
per cent.
Venezuela was the country’s main export market, accounting for 177,682
tonnes, or 34 per cent of all rice exports. The sale to Venezuela augurs well
for Guyana, especially after the country had lost a major market in Venezuela
when the PetroCaribe deal between the two countries ended.
PetroCaribe deal
Under the PetroCaribe initiative, the payment system allowed for Guyana
to buy oil on market value with only a portion paid for upfront and the
remainder to be paid through a 25-year financing agreement on one per cent
interest.
The figures by the GRDB showed that after Venezuela, Portugal was the
country’s major rice importer with a total of 61,873 tonnes of rice being
exported, a 12 per cent of the total amount of rice exported.
The GRDB said that an estimated 69,956 tonnes of rice, valued at US$35
million, had been exported to Caribbean Community (CARICOM) countries last year
with Jamaica and Trinidad being the largest importers accounting for 32,743
tonnes and 25,417 tonnes, respectively.
Guyana exported rice to 10 CARICOM countries, namely; Antigua, Barbados,
Dominica, Grenada, Jamaica, St Lucia, St Vincent, Trinidad and Tobago, St.
Kitts and Suriname.
Guyana said it had also exported rice to the European Union with the
214,190 tonnes exported last year being higher than the 146,092 tonnes shipped
in 2018.