Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Volume 5, Issue I
Daily Exclusive
ORYZA Rice
Newsletter
Planting for India 2014-15 rabi (secondary) rice crop (November - May) has reached around
4.056 million hectares as of April 17, 2015; down about 7% from around 4.355 million hectares
planted during the same period last year, according to preliminary data released by the Indian
Agriculture Ministry. Rabi rice acreage remained unchanged from the week-ended April 10,
2015.The decline is reportedly due to untimely rains in some part of the rabi rice growing
areas.The government of India, in its second advance estimates for major crops, has estimated
India's rice production for 2014-15 marketing year (October 2014 - September 2015) at around
103.04 million tons, down about 3% from an estimated 106.65 million tons in 2013-14,
according to a statement from the Agriculture Ministry. It estimates around 88.02 million tons
from kharif rice crop and around 15.02 million tons from rabi rice crop.
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Chicago rough rice futures for May delivery settled 6 cents per cwt (about $1 per ton) lower at
$9.905 per cwt (about $218 per ton). The other grains finished the day flat to higher; Soybeans
closed about 0.3% higher at $9.6875 per bushel; wheat finished unchanged at $4.9450 per
bushel, and corn finished the day about 0.9% higher at $3.7975 per bushel.U.S. stocks traded
sharply lower on Friday, following a global decline in equities on renewed Greece concerns and
new Chinese trading regulations.
The major averages had their worst day since March 25. The Dow Jones industrial average
plunged more than 300 points to trade negative for the year. European stock indices ended
sharply lower on Friday, following a selloff in Chinese futures over news of coming government
regulation to expand short-selling and limit over-the-counter margin trading. Focus for European
markets has been on Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis' visit to meet IMF officials, as
investors become increasingly nervous about the funding crisis in Greece. The euro traded just
below $1.08, near highs for the week. The S&P 500 fell below its 50-day moving average of
2,085.02. The Dow also fell below its 50-day moving average. Futures held lower but above
morning lows after the consumer price index showed an increase of 0.2% in March, below
expectations of 0.3%. However, the figure marked the second-straight month of gains and
matched February's 0.2% gain. Core CPI,
excluding food and energy, came in slightly above expectations at 0.2%, the same level as in
February. The Dow Jones Industrial Average traded down 282 points, or 1.55%, at 17,825. The
S&P 500 traded down 24 points, or 1.13%, at 2,081, with consumer discretionary leading all ten
sectors lower. The Nasdaq traded down 76 points, or 1.52%, at 4,931. Gold is trading about 0.4%
higher, crude oil is seen trading about 1.8% lower, and the U.S. dollar is seen trading about 0.1%
higher at about 1:15pm Chicago time.Thursday, there were 1,858 contracts traded, up from
1,516 contracts traded on Wednesday. Open interest the number of contracts outstanding on
Thursday increased by 201 contracts to 11,215.
Pakistan rice millers are urging the government to announce new rice export policy to help them
avoid huge losses due to low rice prices, according to local sources.Rice mill owners of Jhang,
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that if the government did not heed to their demands, they would extend the protests to other
cities as well.Pakistan rice exporters have also been constantly complaining that lack of proper
infrastructure facilities and tax sops are reducing the competitiveness of Pakistan rice producers
and exporters. Export prices of Pakistan 5% rice currently stand at around $380 per ton
compared to around $375 per ton, $375 per ton and $360 per ton of India 5% rice, Thai 5% rice
and Viet 5% rice respectively.
Pakistan exported around 3.16 million tons of rice in the fiscal year 2013-14 (July 2013 - June
2014). The South Asian country exported Pakistan has exported around 2.62 million tons of rice
(around 350,914 tons of basmati and around 2.27 million tons of non-basmati) in the first eight
months of FY 2014-15 (July 2014 - June 2015), slightly down from around 2.63 million tons
(around 418,502 tons of basmati and around 2.21 million tons of non-basmati) exported during
the same period in FY 2013-14.USDA estimates Pakistan to produce about 6.7 million tons of
rice, basis milled, and export around 3.9 million tons in MY 2013-14 (November 2013 October
2014).
The government of Panama is planning to hold a tender for buying around 214,000 CWT
(around 9,706 tons) of rice for delivery between April 24 - June 30, 2015, according to
Prensa.com.The imports attract a duty of only 3% compared to normal 40% duty. According to
the Committee on Commodity Exchanges (Conabolpro), businesses interested in importing rice
at low import duty must submit a registration form to the Secretariat of the Commission for Duty
Free Quota Licensing.
The auction will be conducted on April 23, 2015.Panama's rice production in 2014-15 is likely to
decline due to a reduction of about 25% in paddy rice area to around 50,000 hectares from
around 50,000 hectares last year.USDA estimates Panama to produce 150,000 tons of milled rice
and import around 100,000 tons in MY 2014-15 (October - September) to meet a consumption
demand of around 250,000 tons.
Chicago rough rice futures for May delivery are currently noted 12.5 cents per cwt (about $3 per
ton) lower at $9.840 per cwt (about $217 per ton) during early floor trading in Chicago. The
other grains are seen trading mixed: soybeans are currently seen about 0.2% lower, wheat is
listed unchanged and corn is currently noted 0.1% lower.U.S. stocks opened sharply lower on
Friday, following a global decline in equities on renewed Greece concerns and new Chinese
Farmers in Tanzania's Mbeya Irrigation Zone have achieved two times higher yields with the
Systematic Rice Intensification (SRI) farming technique, according to local sources.Farmers in
the two irrigation schemes - Mbuyuni Kimani and Magozi - of the Mbeya Irrigation Zone who
were trained in the technique told local sources that the SRI method is useful in doubling their
yields, saving water and is also economically viable. The Secretary of the Mbuyuni Kimani
irrigation scheme noted that the method was introduced in around 2,000 hectares and around
3,020 small farmers are being benefited. He added that more farmers will be trained in the
method and adoption of this method will change the living standards of farmers in this Irrigation
Zone.
He noted that with the SRI method, farmers have increased their yields from four tons per
hectare to nine tons per hectare.The Uyole Agriculture Research Institute has provided training
to farmers in SRI method in five regions of Mbeya, Ruvuma, Iringa, Njombe, Rukwa and
Katavi.SRI is a low water, labor intensive, organic method of rice farming. In the SRI system,
only a single seedling, which can yield 200 seeds per panicle, is used unlike a cluster of
seedlings used in traditional farming system.
Officials at the Department of Agriculture have urged the rice farmers to adopt flexible planting
techniques in order to mitigate the impact of fluctuating weather patterns such as alternating
floods and drought, according to local sources.The change in the weather patterns has been quite
visible in last five years. Sri Lanka has been witnessing alternating floods and drought since
2012. The South Asian nation experience drought in 2012, floods in 2013, drought and flooding
in 2014. A World Food Programme (WFP) rapid assessment report released in January this year
confirmed that farmers in affected areas had built up huge levels of debts due to these changing
weather patterns.
The Thai Rice Exporters Association (TREA) has estimated Thailand's rice exports to decline
about 22-27% to around 8-8.5 million tons due to falling global rice export prices and stiff with
Vietnam, India and Pakistan.Local sources quoted the Director-General of the Foreign Trade
Department as saying that factors such as global currency volatility, a stronger baht, lower oil
prices and local economic conditions in importing countries have been affecting Thailand's rice
exports for the last few days.
Meanwhile, the Thai Commerce Ministry's decision to delay the third rice auction this year to
avert downward pressure on already falling rice prices is also impacting Thai rice exports
severely. Since the government has suspended direct sales thorough general auctions to ensure
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stable prices during the harvest season, exporters are now focusing on government-togovernment (G2G) contracts.Traders and exporters have warned the government to be cautious
in offloading excess stocks into the market keeping view the current volatility in proces. The
government is now carefully evaluating markets to decide over the timing for reopening bidding
for its government stocks, according to local sources.The Thai government is currently holding
over 17 million tons of rice in its stockpiles and is planning to sell around 10 million tons of rice
this year and around 7 million tons next year. The Thai military government sold about 1.88
million tons of rice from six auctions raising around 25.58 billion baht (around $785.2 million)
since it seized power in May 2014.
Domestic prices of Thai 5% rice fell to around 11,969 (around $367) per ton in March 2015
compared to around 12,250 baht (around $376 per ton) last month, according to UN's Food and
Agricultural Organization (FAO). Export prices of Thai 5% rice currently stands at around $387
per ton, down about 5.6% from around $410 per ton in the beginning of this year. Export prices
of India 5% rice and Vietnam 5% rice declined about 3.8% and 5.2% to around $375 per ton and
$363 per ton respectively since the beginning of this year.Separately, the National AntiCorruption Commission (NACC) is likely to file a civil lawsuit against 20 private companies
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Vietnam rice sellers lowered their quotes for 5% broken rice by about $5 per ton to around $355$365 per ton and increased their quotes for Jasmine rice by about $5 per ton to around $480$490 per ton today. Other Asia rice quotes are unchanged today.
5% Broken Rice
Thailand 5% rice is indicated at around $380 - $390 per ton about a $25 per ton premium on
Vietnam 5% rice shown at around $355 - $365 per ton, down about $5 per ton from yesterday.
India 5% rice is indicated at around $370 - $380 per ton, about a $5 per ton discount to Pakistan
5% rice shown at around $375 - $385 per ton.
25% Broken Rice
Thailand 25% rice is shown at around $355 - $365 per ton, about a $20 per ton premium on
Vietnam 25% rice shown at around $335- $345 per ton. India 25% rice is indicated at around
$345 - $355, about a $15 per ton premium on Pakistan 25% rice shown at around $330 - $340
per ton.
Parboiled Rice
Thailand parboiled rice is indicated at around $380 - $390 per ton. India parboiled rice is
indicated at around $365 - $375 per ton, about a $15 per ton discount to Pakistan parboiled rice
shown at around $380 - $390 per ton.
100% Broken Rice
Thailand broken rice, A1 Super, is indicated at around $320 - $330 per ton, about a $10 per ton
premium on Vietnam 100% broken rice shown at around $310 - $320 per ton.
India's 100% broken rice is shown at around $275 - $285 per ton, about a $10 per ton discount
to Pakistan broken sortexed rice shown at around $285 - $295 per ton.
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The Oryza White Rice Index (WRI), a weighted average of global white rice export quotes,
ended the week at about $410 per ton, down about $3 per ton from a week ago, down about $6
per ton from a month ago and down about $42 per ton from a year ago.
The USDA forecasts 2014-15 global milled rice production at 474.6 million tons, down slightly
from the previous year. The USDA forecasts 2015 global rice trade at 42.3 million tons, down
1.4% from 2014s trade.
Thailand
Thailand 5% broken rice is today shown at about
$385 per ton, down about $5 per ton from a week and a month ago, and unchanged from a year
ago.
The Thai Rice Exporters Association (TREA) has estimated Thailand's rice exports to decline
about 22-27% to around 8-8.5 million tons due to falling global rice export prices and stiff with
Vietnam, India and Pakistan. Domestic prices of Thai 5% rice fell to around 11,969 (around
$367) per ton in March 2015 compared to around 12,250 baht (around $376 per ton) last month.
Separately, the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) is likely to file a civil lawsuit
against 20 private companies allegedly involved in falsifying G2G rice deals under the previous
government's rice pledging program.
Experts say that Japan may reduce rice purchases from Thailand if the Trans-Pacific Partnership
with the U.S. materializes.
Vietnam
Vietnam 5% broken rice is today shown at about $360 per ton, down about $5 per ton from a
week ago, down about $10 per ton from a month ago and down about $25 per ton from a year
ago.
Vietnam has exported about 182,400 tons of rice in February, down about 43% from January and
down about 45% from the same period last year.
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A former Bulog official has urged that the government of Indonesia needs adequate farm land in
order to achieve rice self-sufficiency over the next few years.
A state purchasing agency in Syria has issued an international tender to purchase 6,360 tons of white
rice.
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