World Grain - May 2012 - 95

RICE QUARTERLY

News Roundup
IGC estimates India’s rice exports at 6.1 million tonnes
LONDON, ENGLAND — The International Grains Council (IGC) revised India’s rice exports forecast upward to 6.1 million tonnes for the current calendar year, from an earlier projection of 5 million tonnes. The estimate is based on assumption that the government will continue non-basmati rice export that was allowed in September 2011 and in anticipation of higher production, the IGC said. In January, the IGC estimated the nation’s rice exports at 5 million tonnes. Rice exports were at 4.1 million tonnes last year. India plans to produce a record 102.75 million tonnes of rice in the 2011-12 crop year. Basmati rice shipments are allowed at a minimum export price of $700 per tonne. Global imports may contract by 7% to 32.2 million tonnes, the IGC said, due to reduced purchases by key Asian buyers including Bangladesh and Indonesia. Global rice production is expected to increase 3% to 463 million tonnes due to increased production in China and India. Global production last year was 450 million tonnes.

Rice

U.S. rice industry preps for trade with Colombia
WASHINGTON, D.C., U.S. — The U.S. rice industry is engaging with Colombian ofﬁcials to ensure procedures are in place to take advantage of the duty-free tariff rate quota (TRQ) for U.S. rice as soon as the free trade agreement comes into force, USA Rice said on March 20. The industry has met with its Colombian counterparts, the U.S. embassy in Colombia and Colombian government ofﬁcials. The TRQ for U.S. rice, initially set in year one at 79,000 tonnes, milled equivalent, will be managed by a U.S.-based export trading company. A U.S. rice delegation led by Michael Rue, California producer and chairman of USA Rice’s Colombia TRQ Task Force, and including USA Rice Federation Chief Operating Ofﬁcer Bob Cummings and Alice Gomez of Cornerstone Government Affairs on behalf of the US Rice Producers Association, traveled to Colombia on March 21 to meet with Fedearroz, Colombia’s association of rice producers, and Colombian government ofﬁcials. This trip followed a similar activity earlier in March when the delegation met with U.S. embassy ofﬁcials, Colombian government representatives from the Agriculture and Commerce ministries, Colombian customs, and Induarroz, the association of Colombia’s rice millers.

Vietnam rice exports fall in first quarter
HANOI, VIETNAM — Vietnam’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development said on April 10 that rice exports from the nation dropped 32.1% to an estimated 1.3 million tonnes in the ﬁrst quarter of the year. Total exports for the year are expected to drop by 14% to 6.1 milwww.World-Grain.com / World Grain / May 2012

lion tonnes, compared to 7.4 million tonnes in 2011, as a result of increasing competition from India, Pakistan and Burma. China plans to increase its purchases from Vietnam, in an attempt to keep domestic prices under control. The increase in rice demand from China and an industry buying scheme has kept prices steady.
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World Grain - May 2012

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