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$380M in paddy scheduled to leave today
The first paddy shipment was sent last December.
By Leonard Gildarie
A second shipment of paddy to Venezuela, part of an historic trade agreement between Guyana and that neighboring country, could leave as early as today, officials have disclosed.
According to General Manager of the Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB), Jagnarine Singh, some 4,500 tonnes of paddy to the tune of almost US$1.9M is currently being loaded to a 6,000-tonne vessel which recently brought corn and animal feed to Guyana.
Today, Minister of Agriculture, Robert Persaud, is expected to visit the loading operations.
The GRDB official disclosed that Guyana will now be making moves to ensure that the balance of rice and paddy is all shipped out within the next two months with another boat expected in the country next week.
Last year, President Bharrat Jagdeo brokered a deal with Venezuelan President, Hugo Chavez, after the local rice industry was heavily affected by falling world prices and a glut in the international market.
The deal, which was signed early in the year, saw Venezuela sourcing from Guyana, 10,000 tonnes of white rice and 40,000 tonnes of paddy, at US$330 per tonne and US$560 per metric tonne respectively.
The deal between the two countries would have seen Guyana earning US$18.8M.
In late December, the first shipment of 5,000 tonnes of paddy, valued at US$1.65M, was shipped from Guyana.
However, government had renegotiated a new agreement for the remaining rice and paddy, with the Venezuela government agreeing to pay US$2.9M more on the deal, bringing it to US$21.7M.
According to Jagnarine, who signed the new deal for Guyana, late last month, the deal is a good one for the country since market prices are not offering the high one that is on the table from the Venezuelans.
In December, Minister Persaud had warned millers who are supplying paddy for the shipment, to allow farmers to benefit from the extra price that came from the Venezuela market.
Persaud, in addressing the reasons for the delays of the first shipment, had said that these were not solely attributable to Guyana. According to him, the time that was taken by the Venezuelan officials to visit Guyana to inspect standards, coupled with docking issues in Guyana contributed to the long delays.
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