Exporters said the Strait of Hormuz is shut and three vessels loaded with a total of 100,000 tonnes of basmati rice at Kandla Port have been waiting for the last one week for the route to reopen.
Tea exporters said they are flooded with orders for the premium second flush orthodox teas from the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, but are unable to ship them.
“There is no movement of tea. Some small consignments are going through the Turkey route,” said Mohit Agarwal, director of Asian Tea & Exports, an exporter to West Asia.
Dev Garg, vice-president of Indian Rice Exporters Federation, said there is a lot of confusion among the exporters waiting for a peace deal between the US and Iran.
According to exporters, shipment of these commodities to the region had become intermittent after the war started in late February, but that, too, has stopped over the last four to six days.
Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq, UAE and Yemen, which account for about 50% of all basmati rice exports from India, are among the countries most affected by the conflict.India produces about 7.2 million tonnes of basmati rice every year. Of this, 6 million tonnes are exported.
West Asia accounts for 46% of India’s tea exports. In 2025, the region imported 129.19 million kg of tea.
Garg said exporters and shipping lines have become extremely cautious after the Indian-flagged cargo vessel MT Marivex was attacked off the coast of Oman near the Strait of Hormuz. “This has created a lot of tension among the trade. Profitability of the exporters is coming under pressure due to the uncertainty in shipments,” he said.
The tea-drinking population in West Asia prefers Indian second flush premium orthodox teas, making them major forex earners for the country. Every year, buyers from the region start placing orders from the end of May, and tea shipments from India start in June.
“The merchant exporters are buying orthodox teas for the Middle East countries so that they can ship the teas once the US-Iran deal is clinched. The shipping starts at the beginning of June. But there is no movement now,” said Agarwal.