Broken rice trade increasing over time in major importing regions
Broken rice, once a niche commodity, now plays a major role in global trade. Annual exports surged from under 1 million metric tons in the 1990s to over 10 million by 2022. West Africa and Europe steadily increased imports, while China became the top buyer in 2022, using it in animal feed amid high grain prices—before declining in 2023 after India’s export ban.
Broken rice, a low-grade rice made up of fragments of rice grains that are fractured during the milling process, is increasingly used in animal feed, industrial applications, and blending in consumer products. In many countries, broken rice provides an inexpensive source of calories. For others, it is the main ingredient in local cuisines. Broken rice has played a role in the growing volume of rice trade since the start of the 2000s. Trade data on broken rice from the United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organization show that the volume of broken rice traded in the global market grew from under 1 million metric tons annually in the early 1990s to more than 10 million metric tons in 2022. West Africa was the main destination of growth in broken rice imports during the early 2000s—when the region’s imports first reached 2 million metric tons a year—and during 2010–14, when West Africa’s imports reached 4 million metric tons in 2014. Europe’s broken rice imports grew steadily at a slower pace, reaching 1.2 million metric tons in 2022. Between 2019 and 2022, China accounted for most of the growth, becoming the leading importer of broken rice in 2022 as its imports more than tripled to 3.5 million that year from less than 1 million metric tons in 2019. That surge coincided with a period in which China’s rising domestic feed grain prices drove the increased use of broken rice in animal feed. In 2023, China’s imports of broken rice fell as a result of increased prices and India’s ban of broken rice exports in 2022. This chart appeared in the USDA, Economic Research Service report, Growing Demand for Broken Rice for Feed and Food: The Implications for Global Trade, April 2025.
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Source : Economic Research Service
