Recipe for Success: 4 Key Ingredients for Transporting Rice

Rice is the world’s most eaten food. Even then its global consumption is forecasted to increase in the marketing year of 2023-2024 to 523.772 million metric tons (MT), a rise from the previous forecast of 523.022 million MT1. With a huge part of the world depending on rice for energy and nutrition, how do you ensure that it is transported safely, efficiently, and sustainably?

Our MSC experts will be on hand at World Rice Conference 2023 in Cebu, The Philippines, from 28 – 30 November, to plan for your shipping capacity needs, design tailored logistics solutions for your rice delivery, recommend the optimal trade services and help solve your challenges to improve your supply chain efficiency.

Ahead of the conference, our experts have put together for you, a recipe for success, with the key ingredients that you need to stay ahead of the trends in this vibrant sector.

Recipe for Success for Importing and Exporting Rice – 4 Key Ingredients

Asia accounts for 90% of the world’s rice production and almost as much of its consumption. Recently, The Philippines surpassed China to become the world’s largest rice importer2. Known for their high-quality rice, Thailand and Vietnam are the two main sources of The Philippines’ imported rice, and are at the same time amongst the world’s exporting countries of this precious commodity.

1. Revamped Intra-Asia Network with Shorter Transit Time, Larger Capacity and Higher Reliability
At MSC, we’ve recently revamped our Intra-Asia network to help you leverage these fast-changing market dynamics for your business.

For instance, our reliable Kaguya service now provides direct call with Ho Chi Minh and Laem Chabang into Manila South and at a significantly reduced transit time (TT). With a competitive and ideal proforma TT of 7 days, we strike a good balance between delivering your rice cargoes swiftly while providing sufficient buffer time for customs clearance so that your rice will arrive at its destination in the best condition possible.

Additionally, as the world’s largest container shipping and logistics company, you can be assured of ample capacity for large volumes of rice cargoes to help optimise your supply chain efficiency. More information on our Intra-Asia network here.

2. Smart Containers Providing High Level of Cargo Security
Rice is a delicate cargo and you should be given the peace of mind throughout the transportation journey.

With our MSC smart containers, you can access valuable information about the progress and condition of your cargo 24/7 and at your fingertips. Equipped with an internet-connected device, the smart containers are specially designed to generate a wide range of data by monitoring different environmental or physical conditions such as position, movement, temperature, door openings and shocks. You will also receive notifications and alerts in case of any unexpected events during transit, enhancing the security and integrity of your cargoes.

In other words, the transparency, visibility and predictability offered by our smart containers will help you gain control of the process while enabling a smarter and more efficient supply chain.

3. Tailored End-to-End Transportation and Logistics Solutions that Best Suit Your Requirements
Through our extensive multimodal network and worldwide shipping services, we offer seamless door-to-door deliveries from pick-up to delivery, whether it’s by land or by sea. Our comprehensive range of services also include warehousing, distribution services and quality inspection to best suit your requirements and that of the market.

For instance, in Vietnam’s rice hub, Mekong Delta, we provide both barge and trucking services, coupled with warehousing facilities across various key transportation hubs of Vietnam, before exporting your rice safely and efficiently with container shipping. Similarly in the Philippines, we have partnered with various trucking companies to bring your rice from paddy to table.

4. Dedicated Experts Knowledgeable in Rice Transportation Including Customs Clearance and Latest Policy Updates
We understand the importance of having a dedicated team of experts providing superior customer service and support at every step of the process. This is why we offer:
- Expertise and experience: On top of decades of experience in transporting rice, we provide the expertise in controlling the perfect level of temperature and moisture to protect the quality of your rice.
- Information on latest trends and updates: Be it customs and policy changes or trade agreements that can affect the trading and transportation of your rice.
- Customs clearance: To reduce the risk of errors and delays, we ensure all necessary paperwork is handled accurately and efficiently, while ensuring compliance with the necessary regulations.
- Effective customer service: We have a dedicated team ready to fulfil our clients' needs, including coordinating your shipments from booking, tracking the progress of your shipments, all the way to the destination.

Talk to Our Experts at World Rice Conference 2023
With MSC, you can count on us for your rice export and import.

Grab the opportunity to talk to our experts at the upcoming World Rice Conference to find out more valuable insights and for a customised recipe for success for your unique rice transportation needs.

For further information on our how we can support you, visit here.

Sources:
1. Rice consumption outlook
2. Asia rice production and consumption