China exported a record volume of rice to the Ivory Coast last month after India implemented restrictions on its shipments of the grain.

The Asian nation exported 45,000 tons of rice to the Ivory Coast in August, the highest monthly volume since at least September 2021, according to Chinese customs data compiled by Bloomberg. It was also the first shipments to the West African country in nine months, the figures show.

Top shipper India ramped up its restrictions on exports from late July in an effort to maintain domestic prices at comfortable levels. The Ivory Coast was the fourth-biggest buyer of non-basmati rice from the South Asia nation in 2022/23, according to trade data from India’s commerce ministry.

Ghana and the Democratic Republic of the Congo also increased purchases from China, importing 20,500 tons and 18,500 tons, respectively, customs figures show. Both were also monthly record highs in data to September 2021.