Importers in dilemma as N1.4trn worth of rice trapped in Benin republic

Nigeria Customs Service (NCS)’s anti- smuggling drive and weak exchange rate of the naira to CFA have affected transhipment of 2.23 million tonnes of foreign parboiled rice valued at N1.4 trillion ($912.07 million) from Benin to Nigeria. The price of rice had crumbled from N37,575 ($25) to N30,675 ($20) per 50-kilogramme bag.

However, findings revealed that unscrupulous businessmen are now repackaging local rice and branding it as foreign in order to increase the price in Nigeria. Also, the low demand for imported rice being routed to Nigeria from Cotonou Port, Benin is no longer lucrative because of massive importation, and local production of paddy rice.

Currently, Nigeria has capacity to produce 5.23 million tonnes of milled rice but consumed about 7.6 million tonnes annually, leading to a shortfall of 2.37 million tonnes being imported directly as paddy (brown) rice. Reacting to the trend,the Managing Director of Sceptre Consult, Jayeola Ogamode, said that Customs should conduct direct search on rice warehouses and query where they were getting their foreign rice since it has been banned by the government.

He said: “This is the only way repackaging of locally milled rice as foreign varieties can stop. They should seize foreign rice in warehouses and sell directly to the public. This will make the price to further slump.”

Meanwhile, findings from S&P Global Commodity Insights indicated that rice prices in West African countries had fallen to their lowest levels in a year, weighed down by sluggish demand and excess inventories across key import hubs as parboiled rice now cost $409 per metric tonne CFR Cotonou on October 1, 2025 for December shipments.

The figure, it was learnt, represents a sharp $161 per tonne decline compared to the same period in 2024, underscoring the pressure on importdependent markets in the region. It noted that the Port of Cotonou in Benin had long served as a key transit hub for rice imports, supplying much of Nigeria’s consumption as rice sourced from India and Thailand typically enters Nigeria through Cotonou before being re-exported informally into Nigeria.

However, licensed traders are increasingly bypassing Benin, buying rice directly from Thailand. It added: “The vessels from BUA, Olam and TGI carry 40,000 metric tonnes each of regular parboiled milled rice. Nigeria, the region’s largest rice consumer, has entered its paddy harvest season, adding more downward pressure on retail prices. “At the start of 2025, a 50 kg bag of rice cost Naira 85,000, but it has now dropped to Naira 55,000.

As Nigeria continues its harvest season, prices may decrease further. This trend has been mirrored in Benin, where the cost of a 50 kg bag of rice fell to 14,500 CFA francs (US$23) in October, down from 17,000 CFA francs (US$27) in July. “There are no buyers and stocks are overflowing.

Prices in Cotonou are lower than those for new orders from India.” Recall that between January 2023 and December 2024, Customs seized 270, 285 of 50-kilogrammes bags of rice as 222,285 X 50kg bags of foreign parboiled rice (370 Trailer loads) were intercepted in 2023 and 48,000 bags (82 trucks) by Federal Operations Unit, Zone A in 2024 through intelligence-led operations.(New Telegraph)