Why rice stocks—KRBL, LT Foods, Chaman Lal Setia — declined in strong market? Details

Major rice stocks such as KRBL, LT Foods and Chaman Lal Setia declined in early trade even as the domestic stock market traded firm on Friday, with Sensex reclaiming 60,000.  

LT Foods share price dropped nearly five per cent to Rs 89.70 per share, while Chaman Lal Setia Exports stock dropped over three per cent to Rs 103.90 per share in BSE intraday trade on Friday. Similarly, another major rice stock, KRBL Ltd, fell around one and half per cent to Rs 298 a share on the BSE.  

The decline in share price of rice firms came amid export duty imposed by the government. The government on Thursday imposed a 20 per cent export duty on non-Basmati rice, except for parboiled rice to boost domestic supplies amid a fall in area under the paddy crop in the current Kharif season. 

An export duty of 20 per cent has been imposed on 'rice in husk (paddy or rough)' and 'husked (brown) rice', read a notification by the revenue department. "The export duty will come in force from September 9," said the notification. 

The Central Board of Indirect Taxes & Customs further said the export of 'semi-milled or wholly-milled rice, whether or not polished or glazed (other than Parboiled rice and Basmati rice)' will also attract a customs duty of 20 per cent. 

The area under the paddy crop has been down by 5.62 per cent at 383.99 lakh hectares in the ongoing Kharif season so far due to poor rains in some states, as per the latest data released by the agriculture ministry. 

India, the world's second-largest rice producer after China, commands a 40 per cent share in the global trade. 

The country exported 21.2 million tonnes of rice in the 2021-22 fiscal year, of which 3.94 million tonnes were Basmati rice, news agency PTI said quoting official data. It exported non-Basmati rice worth USD 6.11 billion in the same period, as per official data.