The first 1,000 tons of rice imported from Uruguay are expected to arrive in Guayaquil in the second week of September. The product has already started its journey – by sea – this weekend, noted the president of the Corporation of Rice Industry of Ecuador (Corpcom), Juan Pablo Zúñiga.

The import of grass was announced two months ago due to production problems due to the weather and the increase in the price of the product in the markets. Rice tops the list of products with the highest inflation, according to reports from the National Institute of Statistics and Census (INEC). In June, rice had inflation of 11.01%, and in July of 17.19%, according to the entity’s technical bulletins.

With the arrival of Uruguayan rice, prices are expected to “find a balance,” a Corpcom representative said.

The industry anticipates that the arrival of rice from Uruguay will balance local market prices, which have already seen a slight downward adjustment

In mid-June last year, the Minister of Agriculture, Eduardo Izaguirre, reported that this product would be purchased from other countries in order to guarantee Ecuador’s food sovereignty and avoid price speculation. He then said that the country needs approximately 60,000 tons of rice for domestic and industrial consumption.

The supply from abroad has been criticized by farmers, who have repeatedly indicated that they have the production to cover the demand of the domestic market. While the industrialists supported the import, but demanded that after the first deliveries of milled rice, the next ones would be husked rice in order to guarantee the chain of production in the mills.

Before the statement of the Minister of Agriculture, the price of rice rose due to the lack of grass in the mills due to winter losses, and since then the prices have fluctuated. The collective pound rose to 70 cents last June, and this week it is selling in the Caraguay market between 55 and 65 cents.

While two months ago, presentations of 5 kilograms of rice were sold between 8.69 and 8.83 dollars. At the beginning of August, they were between $8.19 and $8.26, and currently they are between $7.89 and $8.85.

Despite these slight declines, the price of the product has not fallen to the level it was at before June, when the price was around $5.50, $6.50 or $7, depending on the brand and type of cereal.

The first option for importing rice was Colombia. However, that did not happen because the price also increased in the neighboring country, and the negotiations were then transferred to other countries such as Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay, from where the grass is ultimately brought.

According to Global Product Prices, which collects data from 81 countries, a kilogram of rice in Colombia cost $0.91 in July; in Ecuador $1.20; in Argentina $0.93; and in Uruguay 3.56 dollars.

Zúñiga pointed out that after the first shipment of Uruguayan rice, weekly deliveries will continue, but with an average of 2,000 tons.

Uruguayan rice will arrive in Ecuador by sea. The industry expects to start selling them in stores and supermarkets in September

The imported quantity is proportional to the twelve companies associated with Corpcom, but there are other piladors who import, according to the industrialist.

Up to 15,000 tons of pounded rice is the first approved quota and phytosanitary agreements are being worked on so that the remaining quotas are in rice, according to Zúñiga.

Last July, Uruguay’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported that Ecuador had improved tariff conditions to facilitate the arrival of “a total contingent of 63,246 tons of grass, until December 31, 2023.”