The arrival of rice from Uruguay that was planned for the beginning of this month, according to the expectations of the Corporación de Industriales Arroceros del Ecuador (Corpcom), will be delayed for several reasons, among them the lack of water in the Panama Canal, due to The arrival is now planned between the 20th and 21st of this month.

This was revealed this Tuesday, September 12, by Juan Pablo Zúñiga, president of Corpcom, who indicated that the first 1,000 tons have already “crossed the Panama Canal” and are heading to the port of Guayaquil, although he claimed that a delay would cause some inconvenience. “additional costs”, but also clarified that they will not affect the end consumer.

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

In mid-June, the Government announced the import of rice to supply Ecuador’s food sovereignty due to possible shortages due to weather conditions. Of the listed countries (Colombia, Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay) for purchase, in the end negotiations were completed with Uruguay. The country announced in July that Ecuador had improved tariff conditions to facilitate the arrival of “a total quota of 63,246 tons of grass, until December 31, 2023.”

“As they come by sea, they are subject to the question of availability of quotas, space with shipping companies and right now we have an additional inconvenience that is added, and this is publicly known, the problem that exists in the Panama Canal, where they cause delays on the shipping route,” added Zúñiga.

The industrialist indicated that part of the rice that comes from Uruguay, although it depends on the shipping company that transports it, usually has to go through the Panama Canal, but he revealed that the sector is looking for the rest of the cargo to be brought through the Strait of Magellan, that is, in the south of the continent, so that avoid the inconveniences that occur in Panama and that delay arrivals.

Zúñiga indicated that this delay causes “inconveniences”, since they estimated that they would receive the first shipments in the first week of September, thus delaying approximately fifteen days, but that they would have to adapt and ensure that the other shipments are not damaged, and it is possible to the other side, south of the continent.

The delay will create additional costs for rice that would be on the market in October

He also indicated that the delay would create “additional costs”, but did not specify the amount. He said that it will be known when “the product is here” and when the nationalization is done and when the process is completed until it reaches the market, because when the rice arrives in the country, it will be transported to different industries to process, package, get added value and put it on the market from there, which would be seen in the first days of October.

These are the prices of rice in South American countries

When asked if these “additional costs” would mean an increase in the price of the product to the end consumer, Zúñiga replied: “It will always be a price that will cause equilibrium in the market, and the consumer will not be affected.” We are working to make the impact as small as possible, and on the other hand, it will not harm the national harvest, and therefore neither our producers.”

According to Zúñiga, the next deliveries that will take place in the next seven or eight weeks will be partial, the volume of which will be between 1,000 and 1,500 tons to various importers of Corpcom, which – he said – will not cause any damage to producers. national because the volume is very small.

“There won’t be any inconvenience, as it was said, that right now when the harvest is being imported, no way, the quantities are really minimal, even if there were large quantities, it’s the same. As for the commitment of the industries and especially the members of the trade unions, the serious and formal ones, the first thing is the absorption of the national harvest. Everything that our producers harvest, the industry is guaranteed to buy,” he repeated.

Uruguay reported that Ecuador had improved tariff conditions to facilitate the possible entry of 63,246 tonnes of its rice into the country

The industrialist also commented that since there is a global crisis of several foodstuffs, including rice, in Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay “they no longer have rice supply”. He mentioned that even India, the main exporter of weed globally, has closed its exports to guarantee food security and that Brazil, the main exporter in South America, has adopted the same policy.

“With the closure of its exports, Brazil not only ceased to be an option for those countries that we could buy from, but Brazil began to purchase rice from other countries, among them Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay, and apparently equalized the issue. The price began to rise, and there is no immediate availability either, which leaves us with an alternative, which is the United States, which is in full harvest,” he explained.

Zúñiga emphasized that the purpose of importing rice is to “level the issue of rice supply on the domestic market”.