15th January,2016 Daily Global Rice E-Newsletter by Riceplus Magazine

Reap seeks zero-rated status for rice

January 15, 2016

RECORDER REPORT

Rice Exporters Association of Pakistan (Reap) Thursday demanded zero rating status for rice - the 2nd largest export commodity. "We are receiving complaints from our members that the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has withdrawn the zero rating facility on utility bills from many rice exporters who are previously allowed zero rating facility on bills since 2007," said Noman Ahmed Sheikh senior vice chairman REAP. He said that rice export sector is the 2nd largest export commodity, but despite earning of about $2 billion valuable foreign exchange annually, rice exporters are not given the benefits and other commodities' exporters are being facilitated. "Now, rice exporters have to pay sales tax and income tax on utility bills and then they will make efforts for refund of these paid taxes, which will be a very hectic and lengthy process," Noman said. 

He requested Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar and the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) to include rice export sector in zero rated export sectors and exempt rice exporters from sales tax and income tax on utilities for rice export. Rice exporters will face financial difficulties after withdrawal of zero rating facility and their millions of rupees will stuck in GST, the vice chairman REAP maintainedhttp://www.brecorder.com/agriculture-a-allied/183/6342/

Rice exports likely unchanged

Last year Viet Nam's rice exports fetched US$2.68 billion, a decrease of 3.94 per cent in value despite a marginal increase in volumes as prices dropped. — Photo baocongthuongHCM CITY (VNS) — Viet Nam's rice exports this year excluding border trade are expected to remain at last year's 6.5 million tonnes, according to the Viet Nam Food Association.Speaking at a review meeting in HCM City yesterday, Huynh Minh Hue, the association's general secretary, said last year exports fetched US$2.68 billion, a decrease of 3.94 per cent in value despite a marginal increase in volumes as prices dropped.

Asian countries were the main buyers, accounting for 74.5 per cent of the exports, followed by Africa (13.77 per cent), and the US (6.72 per cent), he said.Last year exports of 5 per cent broken white rice increased sharply due to high demand from Cuba, the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, and China, he said, adding that exports of fragrant rice also went up significantly thanks to competitive prices and meeting quality demands."In general, countries that previously mainly imported low- and medium-grade rice have shifted to high-quality rice."He quoted the US Department of Agriculture as saying that the global rice output in 2015/16 declined by 1.9 per cent to 469.3 million tonnes, a second straight year of decline.

El Nino was a major factor, causing smaller crops in many rice production countries.Global consumption will meanwhile rise by 0.5 per cent to 484.6 million tonnes, making it the third consecutive year when consumption will exceed production, leading to a depletion of stockpiles.Huynh The Nang, the association chairman, said stockpiles at Vietnamese rice enterprises at the end of last year were around 400,000 tonnes, much lower than the average of 700,000 tonnes in the same period in previous years."In general, rice consumption this year will be better."Hue said this year the association would focus on boosting exports to near and traditional markets in Asia, including China and Southeast Asia, and increasing exports of fragrant rice to Hong Kong and Singapore.It would strive to expand its fragrant rice market share in Africa and gradually recover the market for white rice, he said.It would work to enable Vietnamese rice to penetrate new markets, especially countries that have free trade agreements with Viet Nam, he said.

Nang said the association would this year focus on building a rice value chain and brands.Nguyen Van Tien, director of the An Giang Import-Export Joint Stock Company, said the Asian market has demand for rice but Viet Nam would face intense competition from Thailand and Pakistan.Thai inventory levels would affect rice prices in the world market, he said. Export of fragrant and high grade rice are expected to increase strongly this year due to high demand from China and Africa, he said.He called on the Government to step up quality checks of exports to safeguard the country's prestige and to sell to demanding markets.The association should also provide enterprises with up-to-date market forecasts and trends, he said.Several delegates at the meeting suggested the Government should crack down on the use of chemicals in rice production. — VNS

http://vietnamnews.vn/economy/281217/rice-exports-likely-unchanged.html

Rice revolution continues as Mackay's second commercial crop is harvested

QLD Country Hour 

By David Sparkes

Updated Fri at 6:19am

This rice crop on a sugar cane farm near Mackay is about to be harvested. (ABC Rural: David Sparkes

MAP: Mackay 4740

Harvesting has begun on the Mackay region's second ever commercial rice crop.

Media player: "Space" to play, "M" to mute, "left" and "right" to seek.

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AUDIO: Farmacist agronomist John Markley discusses Mackay's latest rice crop (ABC Rural)

Covering 60ha spread out over several farms, this crop dwarfs the first crop of 11ha harvested in May.Agronomy business Farmacist is behind the rise of rice in the region, and managing director John Markley said the latest crop had come up well.Standing alongside one plot of 4ha, which he described as one of the best, he said the concept was gathering momentum."This crop is pretty exceptional actually," he said."We are looking at a crop that is going to average probably around 10 tonnes per hectare, which is really good going for this region."That yield will be above most other plots in the total 60ha Farmacist is harvesting around the region.

Mr Markley expects the average to be around 6-7 tonnes per hectares, still a reasonable result.Farmacist is also harvesting more crops in the Proserpine area.The business does not expect rice production to take over from sugar in the traditional cane growing region, but it said rice was an ideal cash crop to be grown on cane farms in between cane crops.It is part of a growing trend in Queensland as other locations also look to rice, including the Burdekin district, which is ahead of Mackay in its development as a rice producing area.While this harvest is currently underway, Farmacist is also busy planting the next crops during a window that will last until the first week of February.It hopes to plant more than 100ha of crops, which would be another big increase.

Topics: rural, sugar, agricultural-crops, crop-harvesting, rice, mackay-4740

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-01-15/mackay-region-second-ever-rice-harvest-much-bigger-than-first/7090338

.http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-01-15/mackay-region-second-ever-rice-harvest-much-bigger-than-first/7090338

Arkansas Farm Bureau Daily Commodity Report

Rice

	High	Low
Long Grain Cash Bids	- - -	- - -
Long Grain New Crop	- - -	- - -

Futures:

ROUGH RICE High Low Last Change Mar '16 1098.5 1065.0 1066.5 -21.5 May '16 1120.0 1101.0 1095.5 -21.5 Jul '16 1123.0 -21.5 Sep '16 1135.0 1135.0 1126.5 -17.0 Nov '16 1152.0 -13.0 Jan '17 1152.5 -13.0 Mar '17 1152.5 -13.0

Rice Comment

Rice prices continued to fall and ended the week by setting new seven-month lows. March is now in position to retest support at the May 2015 low of $10.27 1/2. Disappointing export sales of 43,000 metric tons, down 15% from the previous week, added to the negative undertone. Tightening world stocks have provided support in recent months

W/African researchers reach consensus on boosting rice production

Posted by: APA Posted date : January 15, 2016 at 2:46 pm UTC 52 views In : Africa

West African researchers have drafted a framework that could boost research on rice production in member countries of the Economic Community Of West African States (ECOWAS), report said on Friday.The scheme was unveiled on Thursday at the end of a three-day regional conference on food self-sufficiency and rice policies held in the Senegalese capital, Dakar.Participants unanimously agreed, in terms of research, to study and evaluate States’ subsidies on rice. They pointed to the fact that decision makers sometimes have good will but may, in the implementation, make mistakes.In addition, rice producers funding system which targets small farmers in Senegal without collateral requirement was considered as good research path.

In the same movement, researchers believe that it is necessary to address the issue of financial innovation in the agricultural sector. They think in this regard that extensive research should go further to explore the issues of insurance in the agricultural system.The Common External Tariff (CET) of ECOWAS is also part of West Africa think tank research as they would like to see how this tax code can help regional agricultural production policy.Presiding over the closing ceremony of the Regional Conference on self-sufficiency for rice policies, Kalilou Traore, ECOWAS Commissioner for industry and the private sector, welcomed the gathering which has kept all its promises.“The meeting generated some interesting path for research. This work will be useful to ECOWAS which looks forward to rice self-sufficiency by 2025�, he said.

http://en.starafrica.com/news/wafrican-researchers-reach-consensus-on-boosting-rice-production.html

DPM Gaspar Vega in Guyana Discussing Rice

Deputy Prime Minister Gaspar Vega returns to Belize this Friday from Guyana where substantive discussions took place about rice and its importation into Belize. Belize is looking at a structured arrangement in respect of a bilateral agreement which would allow Guyanese rice into the local market but only when there is a shortage. The proposed agreement, as we understand it, does not contemplate the issue of cheaper prices for the staple, but rather it would give protection to the local producers. But for businessman Jack Charles who has been prevented from unloading three containers because he did not have the required permits; it appears that a major hurdle is now in his way for the three containers as well as for other planned shipments. News Five’s Isani Cayetano looks at the latest development in the rice conundrum.

Isani Cayetano, Reporting

Is businessman Jack Charles shut out from importing Guyanese rice to Belize?  Earlier this week, Minister of Agriculture Gaspar Vega, accompanied by C.E.O. Jose Alpuche, was on a working visit to Guyana.  During the brief stay, the Deputy Prime Minister called on Agriculture Minister of Guyana, Noel Holder, who tabled the idea of a bilateral agreement with Belize to provide rice in the event of a shortfall in local production.  That move comes a week after the Supreme Court rejected an application by the proprietor of Xtra House to seek judicial review of BAHA’s decision to quarantine a consignment of three containers.  In her decision, Justice Sonya Young upheld government’s position that Jack Charles had not obtained an import permit prior to bringing in a shipment of seventy-five tons of prepackaged, Grade A rice.

While Belize has imported rice from Guyana in the past, most recently in 2014 when there was a shortage of grain produced, there has been no formal trade agreement between both countries.  So, how does a rice accord impact the efforts of the embattled wholesaler?  For one, government has outmaneuvered Jack Charles, tacitly prohibiting the private sector, as a matter of policy, from importing rice, unless there is a deficit.  It’s a serious blow to the entrepreneur who, as News Five understands, has formally requested the importation of ten containers.  This, notwithstanding an agreement with the Ministry of Agriculture, that the cargo presently sitting at the port in Big Creek must be re-exported by January twenty-seventh.

This afternoon, Jack Charles expressed his disappointment, stating, quote, unfortunately, Belizean consumers will continue to pay higher prices for local rice, as consumers’ fate was signed by the Deputy Prime Minister in Guyana, unquote.  He goes on to say, quote, that it’s a sad day in Belize’s history where four producers with approximately seventy direct employees are favored over the three hundred and fifty thousand Belizean populace, unquote.

While Guyana’s rice production has increased significantly in recent years, Venezuela has discontinued trade in paddy and rice with its South American neighbor, forcing producers to look elsewhere for an available market.  In the meantime, Deputy Prime Minister Gaspar Vega is expected to hold additional discussions with Guyana’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Carl Greenidge in an effort to secure an import market should there be a shortage.

http://edition.channel5belize.com/archives/123792