Senegal temporarily suspends rice imports for 1 month

On the morning of December 9, the Ministry of Industry and Trade announced: The Vietnam Trade Office in Algeria, concurrently in Senegal, just informed that 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.

Rice packaging line for export at the factory of Trung An High-Tech Agriculture Joint Stock Company (Can Tho). Photo: Vu Sinh/VNA

This measure was introduced after an agreement between producers, traders, processors, State agencies and technical-financial partners at a meeting organized by the Senegalese Market Regulation Authority.

Rice producers in Dagana province, in the Senegal River Valley, said nearly 195,000 tonnes of rice from the 2025 crop remain unsold. Normally, Senegal imports only three months of rice, but now has 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.

According to the Vietnam Trade Office in Algeria, which is also in charge of Senegal, this 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 more than 98% of 100% broken rice is imported (due to the eating habits of the people and because of the low price). The main suppliers are India, Thailand, Pakistan, Brazil and Vietnam. The import tax on rice in Senegal is 10%, the value added tax (VAT) is 18%, the statistical fee is 1% and the community solidarity tax is 1%, for a total of 30%.

The latest report on the world grain market states that 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).

According to data from the Vietnam Customs Department, 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.

Source: https://baotintuc.vn/kinh-te/senegal-tam-ngung-nhap-khau-gao-1-thang-20251209111730449.htm