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ORYZA Rice
Newsletter

February 03, 2015

Volume 5, Issue I

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Pakistan Rice Sellers Lower Some of Their

Quotes; Other Asia Rice Quotes Unchanged
Today
Feb 02, 2015

Pakistan rice sellers lowered their quotes for 25% broken rice and 100% broken rice by about
$10 per ton each to around $310 - $320 per ton and around $280 - $290 per ton respectively
today. Other Asia rice sellers kept their quotes mostly unchanged.
5% Broken Rice
Thailand 5% rice is quoted at around $405 - $415 per ton, about $50 per ton premium on
Vietnam 5% rice shown at around $355 - $365 per ton. India 5% rice is quoted at around $395 $405 per ton, about $40 per ton premium on Pakistan 5% rice quoted at around $355 - $365 per
ton.
25% Broken Rice
Thailand 25% rice is quoted at around $365 - $375 per ton, about $40 per ton premium on
Vietnam 25% rice shown at around $325- $335 per ton. India 25% rice is quoted at around $360
- $370, about $50 per ton premium on Pakistan 25% rice quoted at around $310 - $320 per ton,
down about $10 per on from Friday.
Parboiled Rice
Thailand parboiled rice is quoted at around $410 - $420 per ton. India parboiled rice is quoted at
around $390 - $400 per ton, about $10 per ton discount to Pakistan parboiled rice quoted at
around $400 - $410 per ton.
100% Broken Rice
Thailand broken rice, A1 Super, is quoted at around $320 - $330 per ton, about $15 per ton
premium on Vietnam 100% broken rice shown at around $305 - $315 per ton. India's 100%
broken rice is shown at around $295 - $305 per ton, about $15 per ton premium on Pakistan
broken sortexed rice quoted at around $280 - $290 per ton, down about $10 per on from Friday.

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Pakistan Should Frame Strategies to Clear

About One Million Tons of Basmati Rice
Stocks
Feb 02, 2015

Pakistan's basmati rice stocks have been increasing

since 2011 due to increasing production and
declining exports, according to local sources.The
South Asian country has been consistently
producing around one million tons of basmati rice
annually, but is unable to export all the produced
output due to a competition from India. Pakistans
basmati rice exports have declined to around
630,035 tons in 2014 from around 968,941 tons in
2012 and from around one million tons in 2011. Local sources say the unsold stock is being
accumulated as stocks. Currently, Pakistan has around 600,000 tons of basmati stocks and traders
are expecting to add another 400,000 tons this year taking the stock level to about one million
tons by the end of this year.
Iran, Iraq and Saudi Arabia are biggest buyers of basmati rice in Asia. However, Pakistans share
of rice exports to these countries has been declining due to various reasons. Therefore, Pakistan
is urged to frame strategies to increase exports to these countries in order to clear the surplus
stocks. Experts say the Ministries of Food Security and Research, Finance and Commerce as
well as local governments and stakeholders should work together through mutual cooperation,
understanding and policy development.
Necessary action is called for keeping in view the amount of foreign exchange earned by basmati
rice exports and the role played by them in ensuring food security in the country.An official from
the Paksitan Basmati Growers Association (BGA) noted in an email to Oryza that the
government has been failing to tap the earning potential worth billions of dollars from basmati
rice exports, while it falls short of funds for developmental activities. He also noted that the
Institutions meant for the purpose are not getting enough encouragement from the government
and consequently farmers are suffering with poor incomes and living standards.

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South Korea May Face Rice Oversupply in

2015, Say Agriculture Ministry Officials
Feb 02, 2015

South Korea is likely to face an oversupply

of rice this year due to an expected increase
in production and a decline in
consumption, according to the Agriculture
Ministry officials.The Ministry sources
told local media reporters that this year, the
country is likely to reach about 97% selfsufficiency in rice production and the
Southeast Asian nation's 2015 rice output
may exceed last year's production of about
4.24 million tons.
However, the country's consumption needs have been declining since last few years. Korea's
annual consumption has fell below 4 million tons last year, according to the Agriculture
Ministry. According to data from Statistics Korea, per capital rice consumption in South Korea
fell to all time low of about 65.1 kilograms in 2014, down about 3% from around 67.2 kilograms
in 2013 due to people preferring other non-rice alternatives. The Ministry sources are expecting
the consumption levels to fall further this year.Added to the increase in production, the
government's obligation to import around 408,700 tons of rice (about 9% of its annual
consumption needs) under WTO rules is likely to further increase rice supply in the country.
The government decided to open its rice import market from the beginning of this year to
particularly deal with this situation as another waiver from the WTO would have increased the
country's obligatory rice imports under the WTO rules. The government will impose a tariff of
513% on imports over and above its obligatory import volume of around 408,700 tons.a

Oryza U.S. Rough Rice Recap - Prices

Continue to Steadily Decline amid Limited
Buying Interest
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Feb 02, 2015

The U.S. cash market continued its steady price decline today with prices at the farm gate
sinking roughly $0.30 per cwt (about $7 per ton) amid limited demand and increased sell
interest.Analysts note that without fresh demand most buyers are well covered at least through
February however many sellers are hoping to move their rice this month and some are willing to
take lower prices to do so.

Thailand Plans to Slash Rice Production to

Manage Surplus and Boost Prices
Feb 02, 2015

Thailand's military-led government is planning to

reduce paddy rice production to about 33.73 million
tons by 2016-17, down about 4% from an average
of about 35.11 million tons over the last six years to
manage surplus rice stocks and boost prices, which
have declined significantly since the begnning of
2013, according to Bloomberg.The government is
planning to encourage rice farmers to quit rice
cultivation and adopt cultivation of crops like
sugarcane or mixed farming with livestock,
according to the Vice-Minister for farming. He noted that the government is planning to provide
incentives including soft loans to move away from rice farming.
The Vice-Minister also noted that over the next two years, the government is planning to shift
about 112,000 hectares of rice land to sugarcane and about 176,000 hectares to mixed farming.
The government is also planning to eliminate rice planting in dry season across 64,000 hectares
of land.
The government wants rice production to be just equal to projected local consumption and export
needs. It aims to cut down the surplus (the excess of output over local demand and export needs)
to just 200,000 tons by 2019-2020 from an expected 1.1 million tons in 2016-17. However, the
government's plan is to be approved by the Rice Policy Committee.Export prices of Thai 5%
broken rice declined about 5% to around $405 per ton from about $425 per ton in the beginning
of 2014. They declined about 26% from about $550 per ton in the beginning of 2013. Similarly,
export prices of Thai 100% broken rice declined about 3% from January 2014 and about 25%
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from around $435 per ton in January 2013.The government is currently keen on selling the 17
million stocks accumulated from the rice pledging scheme introduced by the previous
government.

The Nan Model: New Hope for Thai Rice

Farmers
Feb 02, 2015

The "sufficiency economy

philosophy"
initiative
undertaken by the Pid Thong
Lang Phra (doing good
without any intention of
getting
anything
back)
foundation in the Nan province
of Northern Thailand has
raised hope for several rice
farmers, who have to often
bear losses in rice cultivation
due
to
droughts
and
unavailability of water.The
initiative, sponsored by the
King, aims to tackle the problems of deforestation, flooding and poverty. It also aims to promote
reforestation and crop diversity to maintain soil quality. Under this initiative, the project and the
farmers communities jointly work to develop requisite water facilities.
The first phase of the project was implemented in the three districts of Song Khwer, The Wang
Pha and Chalerm Prakiat covering around 40,000 hectares and about 8,588 farmers. Three weirs
covering around 6,676 hectares were planned during the first phase to ensure adequate water
supply for the farmers.
The project is now building 420 weirs worth 200 million baht (around $6.1 million) covering
around 16,000 hectares in Nan. They are scheduled to be complete by April/May this year.The
Nan project helped farmers to earn more income, repay their debts and rehabilitate the forests.
The secretary-general of the Pid Thong Lang Phra project noted that Nan model well suited for
sufficiency economy development and forest rehabilitation. He also told local sources that the

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project is calling for support from big business houses to create a fund as well as educate farmers
on how to increase quality and productivity.
The government is planning to implement the project in 19,000 other villages and the
Agricultural Ministry will oversee the project while the Industry and Commerce Ministries will
involve in marketing of the agricultural products and expanding market access.

Global Rice Quotes

February 3rd, 2015
Long grain white rice - high quality
Thailand 100% B grade 415-425
Vietnam 5% broken
355-365
India 5% broken
395-405
Pakistan 5% broken
355-365
Myanmar 5% broken 410-420
Cambodia 5% broken 440-450
U.S. 4% broken
495-505
Uruguay 5% broken
NQ

Argentina 5% broken NQ

Long grain white rice - low quality

Thailand 25% broken 365-375
Vietnam 25% broken 325-335
Pakistan 25% broken 310-320
Cambodia 25% broken 420-430
India 25% broken
360-370
U.S. 15% broken
485-495

Long grain parboiled rice

Thailand parboiled 100% stxd 405-415

Pakistan parboiled 5% broken stxd

400-410
India parboiled 5% broken stxd 390-400

U.S. parboiled 4% broken

550-560

Brazil parboiled 5% broken

570-580

Uruguay parboiled 5% broken NQ

Long grain fragrant rice

Thailand Hommali 92%
925-935

Vietnam Jasmine
450-460

India basmati 2% broken

NQ

Pakistan basmati 2% broken

NQ

Cambodia Phka Mails 785-795

Brokens
Thailand A1 Super
320-330

Vietnam 100% broken 305-315

Pakistan 100% broken stxd

280-290

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Cambodia A1 Super
350-360

India 100% broken stxd

295-305
Egypt medium grain brokens NQ

U.S. pet food 405-415

Brazil half grain

NQ

All prices USD per ton, FOB vessel, oryza.com

USDA Post Estimates South Korea to Import

560,000 Tons of Rice in MY 2014-15
Feb 02, 2015

The USDA Post has estimated South Korea to import around 560,000 tons of rice in MY 201415 (November - October), including 408,000 tons of rice imports under the WTO's Minimum
Market Agreement (MMA) quota in the 2015 calendar year.South Korea plans to complete its
2015 rice imports under the 2015 Tariff Rate Quota (TRQ) purchasing plan between January October 2015 through public open tenders. The delivery is expected to be done by December 31,
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2015.In 2015, the Post expects imports from the U.S. at around 150,000, including 34,000 tons
from the 2014 MMA.
South Korea imported around 313,419 tons of rice in MY 2013-14, including 122,574 tons of
rice imports under the 2013 MMA quota and around 190,845 tons under the 2014 MMA quota.
USDA Post estimates South Korea's 2014 (January - December) imports at around 379,000 tons,
down about 35% from an estimated 580,000 tons in 2013.
The Post estimates South Korea to produce around 4.24 million tons of milled rice in MY 201415, slightly up from an estimated 4.23 million tons in MY 2013-14. It expects the country's MY
2014-15 consumption to decline to around 4.356 million tons, down about 2% from an estimated
4.434 million tons in MY 2013-14.The country's ending stocks are estimated to increase to
around 1.33 million tons in MY 2014-15, up about 50% from an estimated 887,000 tons in 201314 due to an increase in supply from production and imports and a decline in consumption.

Vietnam Exports About 169,358 Tons of Rice

During January 129, 2015
Feb 01, 2015

Vietnam exported about 169,358 tons of rice in January 1-29, 2015, down about 45% from about
307,255 million tons of rice exported in full month of January 2014 and down about 64% from
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about 472,575 tons of rice exported in full month of December 2014, according to data from the
Vietnam Food Association (VFA). Average rice export price so far in this month stands at about
$457 per ton (FOB), up about 10% per ton from same time last year and down about 4% from
last month.

Vietnam Agrees to Export 240,000 Tons of

Rice to Malaysia
Feb 01, 2015

Vietnam has agreed to export about 240,000 tons of

5% broken rice to Malaysia between April November 2015, Reuters quoted a state-run
newspaper as saying.The price of the deal has not
been disclosed, according to some exporters.
However, they have estimated the deal to be struck
at around $385 per ton (FOB). The Vietnam Food
Association (VFA) has not commented on the deal,
according to Reuters.
Traders say the deal may not have a significant impact on global rice export prices, which have
been declining for the past few months. Vietnam is hopeful of winning the Philippines contract
for 500,000 tons for delivery between March and May 2015.Vietnam's 5% broken rice price
stood at around $360 per ton towards the end of last week, compared to around $405 per ton on
Thai 5% rice, around $400 per ton of India 5% rice, around $415 per ton of Myanmar 5% rice
and around $360 per ton of Pakistan 5% rice.
Experts are expecting a tough year for Vietnamese rice exports due to a stiff competition this
year from Thailand, India and Pakistan. With concerns over weak export demand, last month,
Vietnam has cut floor prices of 10%, 15% and 25% broken rice to about $375 per ton, $365 per
ton and $360 per ton respectively.Meanwhile, output from Vietnam's main winter-spring crop
harvest is likely to reach around 5 million tons, basis paddy (around 3.125 million tons of milled
rice), and most of it is meant for exports.
Malaysia is the third biggest export destination for Vietnam after the Philippines and China.
Vietnam exported around 470,000 tonnes of rice to Malaysia in 2014, up 1.5% from around
463,054 tons exported in 2013.USDA estimates Vietnam to export around 6.7 million tons of
rice in 2015, up about 3% from around 6.5 million tons exported in 2014.
All contents have been published with permission of ORYZA.com
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