The owner of the Ministry of Livestock, Agriculture and Fisheries (MGAP), Fernando Mattosreferred to the accusations of his Brazilian counterpart Carlos Favaro regarding possible speculation in the price of rice by the partners of the Mercosur, among them, Uruguay. “They were unhappy statements without any basis,” said the leader in this regard.
At the beginning of the week the news broke that Brazil eliminated external tariffs on rice, with the aim of increasing import levels of this product – basic in the daily diet of many consumers – to supply the domestic market in the face of losses that floods in Rio Grande do Sul —producer of 70% of the rice in the northern country— generated both on the farm and in already harvested product.
However, Fávaro’s statements to the press explaining the reason for the administrative decision generated noise in the region: “We gave a demonstration to the Mercosur that, if you want to speculate, we look for (rice) elsewhere,” he said, indicating that they observed increases of up to 30% in prices.
Uruguay does not speculate
Given these statements, Minister Mattos maintained that “they were unhappy statements and without any basis,” but that he has not yet spoken to his Brazilian counterpart. “We absolutely deny that from the Mercosur side, much less Uruguay, there may be a speculative action he insisted in dialogue with Radio Carve.
Regarding the future of events, Mattos pointed out that “there were consultations a few weeks ago regarding the rice availability in the region”, but that both Argentina, as Paraguay and Uruguay They have less availability this year due to climate issues. In the Uruguayan case, in particular, due to the lower water reserves due to the historic drought of 2023.
“It is estimated that we can have a volume of 1.2 million tons for export, but let us remember that Uruguay exports are handled through private mills that serve their private clients, we do not have public rice,” the head of the MGAP. “That to lower the common external tariff, which has every right Brazil, speculative maneuvers are assigned to him by Uruguay “They don’t make any sense,” he insisted.
Likewise, Mattos recalled that “Uruguay is a price taker”, with a much smaller market share than the Brazilian one, considering that in that country the rice destined for the domestic market is 10 million tons, and yet it exports more than Uruguay. “It is a situation in Brazil which is generating an additional factor of strengthening of the international price, but this has been going on since before, prices were overheated due to a unilateral decision by the India, for a food security issue, to restrict their imports. There is no cheap rice in the world right now,” said the leader.
“The market rules are set, here there is a problem of greater demand in the international market than the existing supply, therefore the trend in a free market It is a price increase,” said Mattos.
Source: Ambito
