Jordan third largest importer of US rice — Wells

AMMAN — Jordan is the world’s third largest importer of US short/medium grain rice, according to US Ambassador to the Kingdom Alice G. Wells. 

The diplomat, who was speaking during a reception held in honour of visiting US Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack on Saturday, did not give details about the volume and value of rice imports.

However, Foodstuff Traders Association President Khalil Haj Tawfiq said over 60 per cent of the Kingdom’s rice imports come from the US, amounting to around 140,000 tonnes in 2014, worth nearly $125 million.

The local market consumes over 200,000 tonnes of rice a year, according to official figures.

Haj Tawfiq told The Jordan Times that that the value of overall rice imports from various suppliers that include Thailand, India, Turkey and Pakistan, reached around $200 million last year. 

The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) expects the US market share for rice in Jordan to stay steady in 2015 at nearly 60 per cent of Jordan’s market share for medium grain rice. 

Japan is the largest importer of US short/medium grain rice, followed by Turkey, according to the department.

The USDA describes rice as a staple of the Jordanian diet. A study posted on its website showed that the average annual consumption is about 27 kilogrammes per person and that the preferred variety by Jordanian consumers is medium grain (Camolino), which constitutes 90 per cent of rice imports.

Haj Tawfiq said Jordan imports between 10 per cent and 15 per cent of its food and agricultural needs from the US, including corn, rice, soybean cake, processed and canned foods, condiments, vegetable oil, almonds and poultry (mainly frozen chicken). 

Under the Jordan-US Free Trade Agreement signed some 15 years ago, import duties between the two countries were phased out in 2010.

As a net food importing country, purchasing up to 95 per cent of consumable items from abroad  — including 100 per cent of its sugar, rice and corn — Jordan’s food import bill was over JD3 billion last year, according to Haj Tawfiq.