What broken rice is, and what the grades mean

Broken rice is a normal, unavoidable output of milling. Every mill produces it; the question is only how it is graded and where it goes. Codex Standard 198 defines the fractions against the average length of a whole kernel:

Commercially the trade quotes 5% broken, 25% broken and 100% broken. The first two describe whole rice carrying a stated proportion of brokens; 100% broken is a separate article made up entirely of broken kernels, usually sorted to a size range.

The five limits that depend on what you declare

This is the most important section on the page, and the one that costs buyers money when they get it wrong.

The same physical tonne of broken rice is regulated differently depending on the channel it enters. Under EU food law — Regulation (EU) 2023/465 amending Regulation (EU) 2023/915 — the ceiling follows the product category:

The feed regime also sets lead at 10 mg/kg, cadmium at 1 mg/kg for materials of plant origin, mercury at 0.1 mg/kg and aflatoxin B1 at 0.02 mg/kg, all relative to a feed with 12% moisture.

Application one: animal feed

Broken rice is a high-energy, low-protein cereal that substitutes for maize on an energy basis. The published composition, from Feedipedia:

Energy values and inclusion rates

Application two: bird feed

Bird feed is a smaller but more demanding channel than livestock feed, and the specification differs in ways that catch suppliers out.

Broken rice appears in cage and aviary mixes, pigeon feed, poultry scratch and wild-bird blends, usually as the energy component alongside millets, canary seed, sunflower and sorghum. What changes relative to livestock feed:

• Sizing is a visible quality attribute, not a tolerance. A seed mix is judged by eye in a transparent pack. Consistent fraction size matters more here than in a compound feed where everything is ground.
• Dust and chips are a defect. Material that performs perfectly in a pelleting line looks poor in a retail bird-seed pack and separates in transit.
• Cleanliness standards are retail standards. Extraneous matter visible in a clear pack is a consumer complaint even when it is within the feed tolerance.
• Treatment and fumigation restrictions follow the destination’s pet-food or feed rules, which can differ from bulk feed-grain rules. Confirm before shipment rather than after.

If you are buying for a bird-feed pack, say so at the enquiry. The right material is a cleaned, size-graded fraction, and quoting it against a bulk feed specification will give you the wrong price in one direction or the wrong product in the other.

Application three: human consumption, principally rice flour

The largest food use of broken rice outside West Africa is milling it into flour, and the economics are straightforward: if the grain is going to be ground, paying the whole-kernel premium buys nothing.

That last row deserves emphasis because it is routinely missed by suppliers outside the region. Senegal consumes roughly 116 kg of rice per person per year — close to 320 grams a day — and imports about 70% of its needs, mainly as broken rice. This is not a value-engineering choice; it is a food culture. Material sold into it is judged as food, by people who eat it every day.

Organic broken rice

Certified organic broken rice is a real and under-served category, for a reason that is worth spelling out.

Organic livestock must be fed organic feed. Broken rice is an energy ingredient, not a protein ingredient — so the limited derogations that allow a small proportion of non-organic protein feed do not help. In the EU, the derogation permitting up to 5% non-organic protein feed over a twelve-month period applies to piglets up to 35 kg and young poultry, and covers protein feed produced without chemical solvents where organic protein cannot be obtained; its current expiry is 31 December 2026, with a Commission proposal to extend to 2036. We could not confirm the article number from a primary source, so verify the current position with your certifier — but the direction of travel does not change the point: there is no equivalent route for an energy cereal, so organic feed formulations need organic energy ingredients, and organic broken rice is one of the cheapest ways to supply that energy.

Certification runs in three layers:

Where broken rice actually goes

The world broken rice trade (HS 1006.40) was worth about US$2.41 billion in 2024, down from US$2.45 billion in 2023, across roughly 5.53 million tonnes, down 4.39% on 5.78 million tonnes. The importer map bears almost no resemblance to whole rice:

The Senegal story, and what it should teach a buyer

Senegal is the largest broken rice market in the world and the clearest illustration of what Indian export policy does to supply relationships. This is uncomfortable reading for an Indian exporter and we are publishing it anyway.

Senegal also cut customs duty on imported broken unscented rice from 12.7% to 2.7% and removed VAT on imported rice in 2022 — so the tariff environment is favourable, and the constraint is supply reliability rather than duty.

Your other competitor for Indian brokens: India’s ethanol programme

This explains price behaviour that export buyers often find inexplicable, and almost no supplier will tell you about it.

Under India’s Open Market Sale Scheme policy running from 1 July 2026 to 30 June 2027 (order issued 2 July 2026), the Food Corporation of India sells rice to buyers at reserve prices that differ sharply by category:

For context, the economic cost of that rice is estimated at around Rs 4,100 per quintal, and the government told the Rajya Sabha that FCI supplied rice to ethanol distilleries at about 40% below acquisition cost. The 2026-27 minimum support price for common-grade paddy is Rs 2,441 per quintal — above the ethanol reserve price for milled rice. The policy text states that old or broken rice should go to distilleries where feasible.

Prices and the shape of the market

Indicative levels, with dates attached because this market moves:

Scale for context: India’s record non-basmati export year, 2021-22, moved 17.26 million tonnes including 3.89 million tonnes of broken rice. Post-ban projections put broken rice exports at 1.2 to 1.6 million tonnes, rising towards 3 million if Chinese purchasing increases. India is forecast to export about 24 million tonnes of rice in MY2025-26, up 7%.

Specification: what should be in the contract

Packing: private labelling from 1 kg to 50 kg, and bulk shipments

RNG Agro Exports provides private labelling from 1 kg pack size to 50 kg pack size, and we do bulk shipments as well. Broken rice spans a wider range of channels than any other rice product we handle, and the pack format follows the application.

Private label work covers artwork and printing, language versions, nutrition and ingredient panels, barcodes, and country-specific labelling — which for this product includes feed labelling rules where the pack is a feed, and these are not the same as food labelling rules. Tell us the destination market, the application and the quantity when you enquire.

Border controls and policy risk

Broken rice sits under CN 1006, so the EU border position is the same as for whole rice: Annex I of Regulation (EU) 2019/1793 for pesticide residues at a 10% control rate, verified against the India entries as amended by Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/1206, in force from 30 June 2026. Annex I means a higher frequency of identity and physical checks and nothing more — no origin-country certificate, no pre-shipment official analysis, no four-month certificate validity. Those belong to Annex II, which covers turmeric, cumin, peanuts, sesame and a long list of spices. Rice is not in it, and remains the only cereal listed for India in either annex.

On Indian policy: the rules changed five times in roughly thirty months, ending with the broken-rice ban lifted on 7 March 2025. Everything is open now. The honest sentence is that Indian export policy is the single largest risk in buying Indian rice and neither of us controls it — and the Senegal section above shows exactly what that costs when it goes wrong.

Frequently asked questions

Is 100% broken rice a defective grade?

No. It is a product in its own right with its own markets, and treating it as a reject is the most common misunderstanding in this trade. Broken rice is a normal and unavoidable output of milling, and Codex Standard 198 defines the fractions precisely against the average length of a whole kernel: large broken is under three quarters but over one half; medium broken is one half or less but over one quarter; small broken is one quarter or less that does not pass a 1.4 mm round-perforation sieve; and chips pass that sieve. Commercially the grades are quoted as 5 percent, 25 percent and 100 percent broken. Senegal, the world’s largest broken rice importer at about 20.63 percent of global value in 2024, consumes 100 percent broken as a staple food, not as a cheap substitute. China, second at 12.03 percent, buys for feed, brewing and noodles. The world broken rice trade was worth about US$2.41 billion in 2024 across roughly 5.53 million tonnes. Note also that the price gap between 25 percent and 100 percent broken was reported at US$50 to 60 per tonne in early 2025, having been much narrower during the pandemic, so the grades are not interchangeable on price.

What is broken rice worth as animal feed?

It is a high-energy, low-protein cereal that can substitute for maize on an energy basis, with two real limitations. Feedipedia gives broken rice at about 87.5 percent dry matter as fed, 9.0 percent crude protein on a dry matter basis, 1.6 percent crude fibre, 1.9 percent ether extract, 1.4 percent ash and about 85.5 percent starch, with gross energy around 18.1 MJ per kg dry matter. Energy values are AMEn about 16.1 MJ per kg dry matter for cockerels and 15.8 for broilers; for growing pigs digestible energy 16.9, metabolisable energy 16.5 and net energy 13.4 MJ per kg dry matter, with 93 percent energy digestibility and 88 percent nitrogen digestibility; and for ruminants digestible energy 15.9 and metabolisable energy 13.4. Typical inclusion is up to 40 to 45 percent of a broiler diet without affecting performance, 5 to 20 percent for rabbits in balanced concentrates, and about 30 percent in fish diets. The limitations are that protein is lower than in all other cereals, though comparatively rich in lysine at 3.8 g per 16 g nitrogen, and that fibre and calcium are very low, so it should never be the sole feed. One practical warning: in laying hens, completely replacing maize reduces yolk colour.

Why does the arsenic limit on broken rice change depending on what I use it for?

Because food law and feed law regulate different things, and within food law the limit follows the product category rather than the raw material. Under Regulation (EU) 2023/465 amending Regulation (EU) 2023/915, inorganic arsenic is capped at 0.15 mg/kg in non-parboiled milled rice, 0.25 mg/kg in parboiled and husked rice and in rice flour, 0.30 mg/kg in rice wafers, crackers, cakes and flakes, 0.10 mg/kg in rice destined for the production of food for infants and young children, and 0.030 mg/kg in non-alcoholic rice-based drinks. Under feed law, Directive 2002/32/EC on undesirable substances sets total arsenic at 2 mg/kg for feed materials relative to a feed with 12 percent moisture, alongside lead at 10 mg/kg, cadmium at 1 mg/kg for materials of plant origin, mercury at 0.1 mg/kg and aflatoxin B1 at 0.02 mg/kg. The feed figure is total arsenic and the food figures are inorganic arsenic, so they are not directly comparable, but the practical gap is very large. The consequence is simple and it is where buyers get caught: material purchased and tested against the feed ceiling has not been shown to meet the food ceiling. Decide the channel before you buy, and if the end use is infant food, the binding number is 0.10 mg/kg.

Who actually buys broken rice, and what happened to India’s share?

Senegal is the single largest buyer and India lost most of that market during its own export ban. On 2024 figures Senegal took about 20.63 percent of world broken rice imports by value, China 12.03 percent, Indonesia 11.3 percent, Côte d’Ivoire 9.5 percent and Zimbabwe 6.32 percent. Senegal consumes roughly 116 kg of rice per person per year, close to 320 grams a day, imports around 70 percent of its needs and those imports are mainly broken rice. India supplied 64 percent of Senegal’s rice in marketing year 2022/23. After India banned broken rice exports in September 2022 that share fell to 15 percent in 2023/24. The ban was lifted on 7 March 2025, when ITC HS 10064000 moved from Prohibited to Free with immediate effect, and recovery is real but incomplete: India shipped 230,194.76 MT to Senegal in the first five months of FY2025, up 25 percent year on year. In November 2025 Senegal paused rice import declarations for about a month because stock cover had risen from three months to six, and Platts assessed Indian 100 percent broken at US$298 per tonne FOB on 20 November against Pakistan at US$312.

Do you supply organic broken rice, and what pack sizes do you offer?

Yes, certified organic broken rice is available, and RNG Agro Exports provides private labelling from 1 kg pack size to 50 kg pack size as well as bulk shipments. Organic broken rice matters more than its price suggests because organic livestock must be fed organic feed, and broken rice is an energy ingredient rather than a protein ingredient, so the limited non-organic protein derogations that exist for young poultry and piglets do not cover it. Certification runs in three layers: NPOP certification overseen by APEDA with a TraceNet transaction certificate covering your specific lot rather than the site certificate; a Certificate of Inspection in TRACES NT under Regulation (EU) 2018/848 for the European Union; and a NOP Import Certificate for the United States, mandatory for every organic consignment since 19 March 2024. On packing, we cover 1 kg to 5 kg consumer packs for retail rice flour and speciality food channels, 10 kg to 25 kg packs for foodservice, bird feed retail and small mills, 50 kg bags for feed mills, breweries, wholesale and programme tenders, and bulk or containerised shipments for industrial users and repackers. Tell us the destination market, the application and the quantity when you enquire, because the specification follows the application.

• No. It is a product in its own right with its own markets, and treating it as a reject is the most common misunderstanding in this trade. Broken rice is a normal and unavoidable output of milling, and Codex Standard 198 defines the fractions precisely against the average length of a whole kernel: large broken is under three quarters but over one half; medium broken is one half or less but over one quarter; small broken is one quarter or less that does not pass a 1.4 mm round-perforation sieve; and chips pass that sieve. Commercially the grades are quoted as 5 percent, 25 percent and 100 percent broken. Senegal, the world’s largest broken rice importer at about 20.63 percent of global value in 2024, consumes 100 percent broken as a staple food, not as a cheap substitute. China, second at 12.03 percent, buys for feed, brewing and noodles. The world broken rice trade was worth about US$2.41 billion in 2024 across roughly 5.53 million tonnes. Note also that the price gap between 25 percent and 100 percent broken was reported at US$50 to 60 per tonne in early 2025, having been much narrower during the pandemic, so the grades are not interchangeable on price.
• It is a high-energy, low-protein cereal that can substitute for maize on an energy basis, with two real limitations. Feedipedia gives broken rice at about 87.5 percent dry matter as fed, 9.0 percent crude protein on a dry matter basis, 1.6 percent crude fibre, 1.9 percent ether extract, 1.4 percent ash and about 85.5 percent starch, with gross energy around 18.1 MJ per kg dry matter. Energy values are AMEn about 16.1 MJ per kg dry matter for cockerels and 15.8 for broilers; for growing pigs digestible energy 16.9, metabolisable energy 16.5 and net energy 13.4 MJ per kg dry matter, with 93 percent energy digestibility and 88 percent nitrogen digestibility; and for ruminants digestible energy 15.9 and metabolisable energy 13.4. Typical inclusion is up to 40 to 45 percent of a broiler diet without affecting performance, 5 to 20 percent for rabbits in balanced concentrates, and about 30 percent in fish diets. The limitations are that protein is lower than in all other cereals, though comparatively rich in lysine at 3.8 g per 16 g nitrogen, and that fibre and calcium are very low, so it should never be the sole feed. One practical warning: in laying hens, completely replacing maize reduces yolk colour.
• Because food law and feed law regulate different things, and within food law the limit follows the product category rather than the raw material. Under Regulation (EU) 2023/465 amending Regulation (EU) 2023/915, inorganic arsenic is capped at 0.15 mg/kg in non-parboiled milled rice, 0.25 mg/kg in parboiled and husked rice and in rice flour, 0.30 mg/kg in rice wafers, crackers, cakes and flakes, 0.10 mg/kg in rice destined for the production of food for infants and young children, and 0.030 mg/kg in non-alcoholic rice-based drinks. Under feed law, Directive 2002/32/EC on undesirable substances sets total arsenic at 2 mg/kg for feed materials relative to a feed with 12 percent moisture, alongside lead at 10 mg/kg, cadmium at 1 mg/kg for materials of plant origin, mercury at 0.1 mg/kg and aflatoxin B1 at 0.02 mg/kg. The feed figure is total arsenic and the food figures are inorganic arsenic, so they are not directly comparable, but the practical gap is very large. The consequence is simple and it is where buyers get caught: material purchased and tested against the feed ceiling has not been shown to meet the food ceiling. Decide the channel before you buy, and if the end use is infant food, the binding number is 0.10 mg/kg.
• Senegal is the single largest buyer and India lost most of that market during its own export ban. On 2024 figures Senegal took about 20.63 percent of world broken rice imports by value, China 12.03 percent, Indonesia 11.3 percent, Côte d’Ivoire 9.5 percent and Zimbabwe 6.32 percent. Senegal consumes roughly 116 kg of rice per person per year, close to 320 grams a day, imports around 70 percent of its needs and those imports are mainly broken rice. India supplied 64 percent of Senegal’s rice in marketing year 2022/23. After India banned broken rice exports in September 2022 that share fell to 15 percent in 2023/24. The ban was lifted on 7 March 2025, when ITC HS 10064000 moved from Prohibited to Free with immediate effect, and recovery is real but incomplete: India shipped 230,194.76 MT to Senegal in the first five months of FY2025, up 25 percent year on year. In November 2025 Senegal paused rice import declarations for about a month because stock cover had risen from three months to six, and Platts assessed Indian 100 percent broken at US$298 per tonne FOB on 20 November against Pakistan at US$312.

100% broken is not a defective grade. It is a staple food for tens of millions of people and an industrial raw material for many more. Senegal, the world’s largest importer, eats it by preference. Breweries buy it because its starch converts cleanly. Flour mills buy it because they are going to grind it anyway and the whole-grain premium buys them nothing. The grades are also not interchangeable on price: the gap between 25% and 100% broken was reported at US$50–60 per tonne in early 2025, having been much narrower during the pandemic. If someone offers to substitute one for the other at a small discount, check the spread.