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Brazil ag minister states action to import rice 'not required'

The Brazilian federal government will no longer need to buy imported rice, Agriculture Minister Carlos Favaro informed a local TV channel on Wednesday, after the plan brought in flak from regional farmers.

Prices have actually already dropped, Favaro stated, adding the government will continue monitoring the marketplace. As there is no speculation, in my viewpoint, new auctions are not required.

Last month, Brazil's national crop firm Conab canceled the outcomes of a questionable rice auction over doubts about the winners' financial capability to honor their dedications. The federal government said then it would hold a brand-new auction to buy imported rice, however stopped short.

Because uncommon auction, Brazil had actually bought 263,370 metric lots of imported rice for 1.32 billion reais ($ 236.28 million). The goal was avoiding a price walking after historic floods in the top producing state Rio Grande do Sul, which immersed whole towns, eliminated livestock and interrupted harvesting of crops like corn and soy.

According to the minister, Brazil's Plano Safra farm credit program, to be revealed later on in the day, will provide loans to boost rice production in the flood-hit state, in addition to in others.

(source: Reuters)