The
Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations predicts that rice production will increase by 1.8 percent in 2008. Production increases are expected in all the Asian rice producing countries as well as Africa, Latin America and the European Union. However, the FAO gave a dismal forecast for Australia and expects a reduction in production in the United States.
Despite the positive production outlook the FAO predicts that international rice trade will decrease. Traditional exporting countries like China, India, Egypt, Viet Nam have imposed restrictions to reduce the rice exported from these countries.
According to the FAO All Rice Price Index, international rice prices have increased by 20 percent since January 2008. The price increases reflect the limited supply available for sale due to the many restrictions imposed by major exporting countries. For prices to stabalise, favourable weather conditions must prevail in the coming months and governments relax rice export restrictions.
Paddy production in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) is forecast to rebound by 7.4 percent to 26.2 million tonnes in 2008. Although some gains are expected in Central America and the Caribbean States, the bulk of the increase is expected to come from larger crops in South America, in particular from Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Uruguay and Venezuela, where many of the 2008 paddy crops are already at the harvesting stage. (
Rice Market Monitor)
References
Food and Agriculture Orgainisation
http://www.fao.org
Rice Market Monitor
http://www.fao.org/es/ESC/en/15/70/highlight_71.htm
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