Vietnam imports husked brown rice from India for re-exports, sources say

Vietnam has recently imported husked brown rice from India for the first time in years, aiming to process it into refined white rice for export, capitalizing on high global demand. This move comes as Vietnam faces increased export orders following India’s ban on white rice exports in 2023. Vietnamese rice shipments hit a record 8.3 […]

India’s Commerce Minister, Piyush Goyal, was absent at the start of a major World Trade Organization (WTO) meeting in Abu Dhabi, causing concerns about the impact on discussions. Goyal is a key player in the trade negotiations focusing on fisheries and digital trade tariffs. However, WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala stated that Goyal’s participation delay was […]

India expresses serious concerns at WTO meeting over trade protectionist measures and their impact on exports to the EU. Issues raised include carbon tax, deforestation regulation, and the need for flexibility in WTO agreements. Speaking at a session on sustainable development and policy space for industrialisation, Commerce Secretary Sunil Barthwal said developing countries require flexibility […]

Piyush Goyal said that India “firmly believes that any measures taken to combat climate change, including unilateral ones, should not constitute a means of arbitrary or unjustifiable discrimination or a disguised restriction on international trade”.

Separately, Indonesia has backed New Delhi’s proposal to reinvigorate the work under the Work Programme on Electronic Commerce, which requires structured discussion on trade-related issues over global e-commerce, taking into account the economic, financial and development needs of developing countries.

India is considering an export tax on low-grade iron ore to meet rising local demand. Small steel producers want restrictions, but the Federation of Indian Mineral Industries opposes it. India’s steel demand is increasing, driven by steel exports from China.

India and South Africa have opposed it as it neither has the WTO mandate or its members’ consensus and cannot be brought to the formal process in the WTO. Civil society also called the “attack” on India and South Africa by WTO Director General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala for opposing the proposed pact “appalling”. “The Director-General has […]

From the outside, it’s easy to think of India as an undifferentiated mass of individuals with leaders who turn up in places such as Abu Dhabi to reject everything the rest of the world suggests. But this is the world’s most complex democracy, and sometimes we just have to wait while it fights its internal […]

The analysis has shown that India has penetrated into what are termed as “absolutely new markets” in regions such as Africa, Central Asia, Latin America and North America during April-December 2023.

Imports of paper and paperboards have surged by 37% to approximately 1.47 million tonnes in April-December of the current fiscal year, impacting local paper mills, according to the Indian Paper Manufacturers Association (IPMA). This marks a significant increase from around 1.07 million tonnes during the same period last fiscal year.