India to resume buying rice from Myanmar

India will resume buying rice from Myanmar after suspension for three years, offering to import 500, 000 tons of rice from the Southeast Asian country, said a Myanmar rice traders organization Monday.
Prices for the rice deal are under negotiation, said the Myanmar Rice Federation, adding that India's offer to import Myanmar rice will create competitive prices in the domestic market.
According to the Central Statistical Organization, Myanmar exported 1.2 million tons of rice in the fiscal year 2013-14, down 14.2 percent from 1.4 million tons in 2012-13.
The rice export earning during 2013-14 was registered as 460 million U.S. dollars, reducing by 15.4 percent from 544 million U. S. dollars in 2012-13.
However, the country projects to export up to 1.5 million tons of rice in the current 2014-15 fiscal year against 1.2 million tons in 2013-14.
Myanmar's rice is mainly exported to the Chinese market, registering nearly 260,000 tons through Muse border gate alone in the first four months (April-July) of 2014-15, 80,000 tons more than the same period of 2013-14, rice traders said.
According to reports, Myanmar is also making trade deal to boost export of its rice to China, expecting that a bilateral trade agreement could be reached on the deal.
Other buyers of Myanmar's rice go to Indonesia and Japan which had offered to buy 300,000 tons and 5,000 tons, respectively, in 2013, according to earlier report.
Myanmar, once known as a major rice exporter in the world especially in the 1950s, also stands as a leading country in the Southeast Asia region in producing and exporting beans and pulses.