Senegal temporarily suspends rice imports for 1 month

On November 12, 2025, the Ministry of Industry and Trade of Senegal decided to stop importing rice for 1 month to facilitate local rice consumption because imported rice has more competitive prices.

The measure was adopted after a consensus was reached among producers, traders, processors, state agencies and technical and financial partners at a meeting organized by Senegal’s Market Regulation Authority. Rice producers in Dagana province, in the Senegal River Valley, said nearly 195,000 tonnes of rice from the 2025 crop remained unsold. Normally, Senegal only imports rice to stockpile for three months, but currently the stock is enough for six months.

With the aim of stabilizing the market and protecting local rice producers from imported rice, in addition to the above measures, the Senegalese Ministry of Industry and Trade also set a single selling price of 350 CFA Francs/kg (about 0.62 USD) for domestically produced broken rice and whole grain rice.

Senegal is the third largest rice importer in Africa (about more than 1 million tons/year), after Nigeria and Cote d'Ivoire. Domestic rice production only meets 30% of the people's demand of up to 2.2 million tons of rice. One of the characteristics of the Senegalese rice market is that it imports more than 98% of 100% broken rice (due to people's eating habits and low prices). The main suppliers are India, Thailand, Pakistan, Brazil and Vietnam. Rice import tax in Senegal is 10%, VAT is 18%, statistical fee is 1% and community solidarity tax is 1%, totaling 30%.

According to the latest report on the world grain market, the US Department of Agriculture estimates that Senegal will have to import 1.65 million tons of rice for 2025/2026, accounting for about 70% of market demand (nearly 2.2 million tons/year).

Data from the Vietnam Customs Department shows that in the first 10 months of 2025, our country's rice exports to Senegal increased by 7,258% in volume and 3,145% in value, reaching 165,624 tons, equivalent to 51.57 million USD.

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Source: Hoang Duc Nhuan - Vietnam Trade Office in Algeria concurrently serving in Senegal

Tags: rice import, Senegal

Source: https://moit.gov.vn/tin-tuc/senegal-tam-ngung-nhap-khau-gao-01-thang.html