São Paulo – Expoarroz, a fair turned to the rice sector and scheduled to take place starting on April 16th, in Pelotas, Rio Grande do Sul state, Brazil, will include six buyers from two Arab countries, namely Jordan and Saudi Arabia. They are going to participate in business roundtables to be promoted during the fair, an event in which they traditionally take place, according to the coordinator at Expoarroz, Fernando Estima. He said that there is great demand for rice in the Arab world, a region in which per capita consumption is 15 kilograms a year. In Brazil, the total is 12 kilograms, and in Europe, where the tradition of eating rice is not very strong, it is four kilograms per capita.
“It is only possible to sell rice to the countries that have a culture of consuming rice,” he said. Estima adds that, in prior editions of the roundtables, Arab importers who could not come invited rice culture representatives to visit the region, and that took place. The organisation’s estimate is that Expoarroz roundtables may have a turnover of 500,000 tonnes in immediate and later business. To have an idea of what this means, Brazil exports between 1.5 million and two million tonnes of the product each year.
Despite the fair having exhibitors from several sectors within rice farming, like services and machinery, the business roundtables are entirely turned to the trading of rice. It is part of a project to foster exports of the commodity that is developed by the Brazilian Export and Investment Promotion Agency (Apex) and the Brazilian Rice Industry Association (Abiarroz), with support of other organisations. The sector has been working on increasing exports and also the quality of its products. “Now everybody knows Brazilian rice, which has quality and conditions to compete internationally,” said Estima.
Apart from the Saudis and Jordanians, also participating in the Expoarroz roundtables are importers from another 11 countries, including South Africa, Angola, Chile, Cuba, Spain, Peru and Nigeria. On the Brazilian side, 24 rice companies are participating, not just from Rio Grande do Sul, but also from other states, like São Paulo and Santa Catarina. Many companies produce in Rio Grande do Sul, but have their industrial bases in the state of São Paulo. Brazil produces 11 million tonnes of rice, of which 7.5 million in Rio Grande do Sul. The South of the state, where Expoarroz takes place, is one of the main producers.
Expoarroz is promoted by the Continental Commodity Exchange (BCM), a not-for-profit association that includes brokers and operates the product trade system. The fair and its events, however, have the support of several sector organisations and governments, like that of the state of Rio Grande do Sul. The fair spans four days, up to the 19th of April, at Pelotas Exhibition Centre. The themes this year are new technologies and markets. Apart from the exhibition and business roundtables, there will be the 1st International Rice Forum, with sector talks. The fair is two-yearly.
Service
Expoarroz
From April 16th to 19th, 2013
At the Pelotas Exhibition Centre – RS
From 2:00 pm to 9:00 pm
Site: www.expoarroz.com.br
Telephone: (+55 53) 3025-6323
*Translated by Mark Ament
