Rice
An unprecedented decision by Iran to ban rice imports has temporarily hurt Indian exporters very badly. Iran’s basmati rice exports from India have been increasing significantly for the last few years. In 2013-14, Iran’s basmati rice imports from India accounted for about 1.45 million tons or about 85% of its total rice imports of around 1.7 million tons. Iran has reduced rice imports from India in a phased manner since February this year.
Cocoa
With the appreciable containment of the Ebola epidemic in West Africa, Ugandan cocoa producers have to deal with the drop in cocoa prices due to the increased supply of cocoa on the international market from West African producers. Cocoa prices in Uganda and East Africa indicate a drastic drop in the price of cocoa per kilogram from Shs7, 500 around September to Shs6, 500 in November despite the relatively low production.