March 10,2016 daily exclusive orza rice e-newsletter by riceplus magazine

Brazil Exports 170,751 Tons of Rice in First Two Months of 2016, Up 42% from Previous Year

Mar 09, 2016

Brazil exported around 170,751 tons of rice in the first two months of 2016, up about 42% from around 119,828 tons exported during the same period in 2015, according to data released by the Rice Institute of Rio Grande do Sul (IRGA).

In February 2016, Brazil exported around 74,701 tons of rice, down about 22% from around 96,050 tons in January 2016 and up about 50% from around 49,915 tons exported in February 2015.

The U.S. remained the largest importer of Brazilian rice in February 2016 with around 34,726 tons, or about 46% of Brazil's total rice exports during the month. Switzerland accounted for around 16,550 tons (about 22% of Brazil's total rice exports during the month); and Peru accounted for around 5,882 tons (about 8% of Brazil's total rice exports during the month).

Bolivia (2,266 tons), Gambia (2,220 tons), Angola (2,195 tons), Belgium (1,614 tons), Benin (1,471 tons), Chile (1,309 tons), The Netherlands (1,103 tons), and others (5,365) accounted for the remaining 24% of Brazil's total rice exports in February 2016. 

Iraq Passes On Tenders to Buy At least 30,000 Tons of Rice

Iraq has passed on tenders to buy at least 30,000 tons of rice to be sourced from the U.S., Uruguay or Argentina, Reuters quoted European traders.

Argentina's quote for 30,000 tons at $468 per ton (c&f free out) was reportedly the lowest quote received. Another offer from Argentina was quoted at $492 per ton (c&f free out) for 60,000 tons.

Two offers from the U.S. included $561 per ton (c&f free out) for 60,000 tons and $573.9 per ton (c&f free out) for 100,000 tons.

Uruguay rice was offered at $4478 per ton for 30,000 tons.

Indian rice was also offered at $478 per ton (c&f free out) for 90,000 tons despite Indian origin rice was not requested in the tender.

The rice was sought for delivery between March and April this year. Offers are valid till March 14, 2016.

Iraq also passed off the previous tender for 90,000 tons U.S. origin rice, which closed on February 21, 2016, after submission of uninvited cheaper offers from Uruguay and Argentina.

Oryza U.S. Rough Rice Recap - Prices Fall after USDA Increases Global Carryover; U.S. Ending Stocks Unchanged

Mar 10, 2016

The U.S. cash market was weaker today after the USDA left the U.S. long grain sheet unchanged with 23.0 million cwt in ending stocks while increasing global ending carryover by 1.2 million tons.

The USDA raised global production by 1.8 million tons on increased production in India which was partly offset by a decrease in production in Indonesia while increasing global consumption by 0.6 million tons.

Analysts note that on the surface this report appears bearish, however many believe that the USDA’s domestic consumption figure is too low and their Indian production figure is too high. 

Experts Call for Private-Public Partnerships in African Rice R&D

Mar 09, 2016

Experts have stressed the need for public and private sector institutions in Africa to join hands to address rice research and production challenges in the continent, according to Sci Dev Net.

Speaking at the 2016 AfricaRice Science Week and Global Rice Science Partnership-Africa Science Forum last month, the AfricaRice Deputy Director-General urged the African rice farmers to increase production capacity as the demand for rice in Africa would increase to around 38 million tons by 2040. To achieve this task, the role of private sector is very crucial, he said. AfricaRice Director-General added that such partnerships should intensify advances in scientific research to boost rice production in Africa.

Other experts noted that the joint efforts and strengths of public-private sector partnerships of all actors in the rice value chain could help boost production and enhance research on rice in Africa.

The conference was organized by AfriaRice, a member of the Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) Consortium to review the activities carries out by rice teams in 2015, and was attended by 200 experts from 30 countries. In the conference, the teams reportedly decided to disseminate scalable technologies for rice production and carry out effective and efficient planning of rice research-for-development (R4D) activities in 2016.

USDA Lowers Forecast for U.S. 2015-16 All Rice Exports

Mar 09, 2016

In its March 2016 World Agricultural Demand and Supply Estimates (WASDE) report, the USDA lowered the forecast for U.S. all rice exports to around 4.54 million tons in 2015-16, from an estimated 4.76 million tons in 2014-15 and down from its previous estimates of around 4.63 million tons due to reduced shipments of southern medium-grain rough rice, especially to Turkey. The USDA forecasts 2015-16 medium-grain exports at around 1.41 million tons, down from an estimated 1.45 million tons in 2014-15 and down from its previous estimates of around 1.5 million tons.

The USDA forecasts 2015-16 all rice use at around 10.02 million tons, down from around 10.61 million tons last year and down from its previous estimates of around 10.12 million tons. It forecasts 2015-16 medium-grain use at around 2.9 million tons, up from an estimated 2.86 million tons in 2014-15 and down from its previous estimates of around 2.99 million tons.

The USDA forecasts 2015-16 all rice ending stocks at around 1.99 million tons, up from an estimated 1.95 million tons last year and up from its previous estimates of around 1.9 million tons. It forecasts 2015-16 medium-grain ending stocks at around 860,000 tons, up from an estimated 570,000 tons in 2014-15 and up from its previous estimates of around 770,000 tons.

The USDA kept its forecasts for the U.S. long-grain exports, use and stocks unchanged at its previous estimates of around 3.99 million tons, 3.13 million tons and 1.04 million tons respectively.

The USDA lowered all rice average farm prices to around $273.37 - $291.00 per ton from its last month's forecast of $275.57 - $293.21 per ton due to lower projected medium- and short-grain prices. It lowered the U.S. combined medium- and short-grain rice average farm prices to around $352.74 - $370.37 per ton from its last month's forecast of $354.94 - $372.57 per ton.

The USDA, however kept the U.S. all rice production and supply projections unchanged from the previous month.

Bangladesh Domestic Rice Prices Increase Temporarily on Higher Mill-Gate Prices, Say Traders

Mar 09, 2016

Bangladesh domestic rice prices have been increasing for the last few days in most of Bangladesh's city markets following a hike in prices at the mill-gates, according to the Financial Express.

Traders told reporters that prices of most rice varieties increase by Tk 1.0 - 4.0 per kilogram (around $13 - $52 per ton) in Dhaka and other markets. Coarse rice prices are in the range of Tk 30 - 33 per kilogram (around $392 - $430 per ton).

Bangladesh Auto Major Husking Mill Owners Association secretary noted that t is a normal market trend that rice prices fluctuate after completion of a harvesting season until the next harvest. However, some traders are predicting that prices may fall again when the Boro (January - May) harvest would begin next month.

According to the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), wholesale and retail prices of coarse rice declined in February due to higher supplies from the Aman crop (July - December).

The Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) targets about 34.9 million tons of rice in FY 2015-16 (July - June) from three rice seasons - Aman, Aus and Boro. DAE officials noted that Aman and Aus (February - August) rice production remained almost static this FY due to flood in the cultivation period. An official said the total production of Aman and Aus is likely to be 15.5 million tons. Bangladesh produced about 34.7 million tons of milled rice in FY 2014-15.

Last month, the government proposed to sell about 1.5 million tons of rice and wheat at reduced prices in the open market in order to clear the stocks before the arrival of the newly harvest rice. The government storage capacity for storage of food grains is 1.9 million tons. The government aims to sell rice in OMS at around Tk 23-25 per kilogram (around $300 - $326 per ton).

Currently, the government rice stocks stand at around 1.065 million tons. However, the sale had been slow. A renowned agricultural economist noted that availability of better quality rice in the market at affordable prices has been refraining consumers from buying the OMS rice.

However, he noted that: "A little-bit hike in rice prices this month might benefit the Boro farmers, who will begin harvest from next month." 

Global Rice Quotes

March 10th, 2016

Long grain white rice - high quality

Thailand 100% B grade           370-380           ↔

Vietnam 5% broken     365-375           ↔

India 5% broken          365-375           ↔

Pakistan 5% broken     335-345           ↔

Myanmar 5% broken   420-430           ↔

Cambodia 5% broken 410-420           ↔

U.S. 4% broken           440-450           ↓

Uruguay 5% broken    445-455           ↔

Argentina 5% broken   435-445           ↔

Long grain white rice - low quality

Thailand 25% broken 350-360           ↔

Vietnam 25% broken   355-365           ↔

Pakistan 25% broken   305-315           ↔

Cambodia 25% broken            395-405           ↔

India 25% broken        330-340           ↔

U.S. 15% broken (sacked)       440-450           ↔

Long grain parboiled rice

Thailand parboiled 100% stxd             365-375           ↔

Pakistan parboiled 5% broken stxd      NQ       ↔

India parboiled 5% broken stxd           355-365           ↔

U.S. parboiled 4% broken       480-490           ↔

Brazil parboiled 5% broken     520-530           ↔

Uruguay parboiled 5% broken             NQ       ↔

Long grain fragrant rice

Thailand Hommali 92%           660-670           ↔

Vietnam Jasmine         450-460           ↔

India basmati 2% broken         NQ       ↔

Pakistan basmati 2% broken    NQ       ↔

Cambodia Phka Mails 755-765           ↔

Brokens

Thailand A1 Super       330-340           ↑

Vietnam 100% broken             340-350           ↔

Pakistan 100% broken stxd     285-295           ↔

Cambodia A1 Super    335-345           ↔

India 100% broken stxd          260-270           ↔

Egypt medium grain brokens   NQ       ↔

U.S. pet food   280-290           ↔

Brazil half grain           NQ       ↔

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

Indian Private Company Developing High-Yielding Salinity-Tolerant Rice

Mar 09, 2016

An Indian agri-biotech company is developing a high-yielding and salinity-tolerant rice variety jointly with a U.S. based Biosciences company, according to the Press Trust of India (PTI).

The two companies announced in a statement this week that good progress is seen in the development of the variety. According to the statement, two years of initial field trials using rice varieties with the U.S. company's salinity-tolerant (ST) trait showed double-digit yield growth under saline conditions, and no loss of yield under normal conditions.

Following the successful field trials, the Indian company is reportedly planning to advance these lead ST rice lines into their trait introgression programme, and conduct further multi-location field trials to validate trait performance. "We will now move forward to incorporate these rice lines into elite materials to bring commercial benefits for rice growers," said the Chief Technology officer of the Indian company.

This particular ST trait has been applied to a wide variety of crops, including wheat, rice, cotton, sugarcane and vegetables.

Salinity is the most challenging issue in rice cultivation across the world. It occurs when ground water supplies are salinized due to seawater intrusion and mineral deposits. Such areas are reportedly more prevalent in North America, India, China, Australia and other regions of Asia.

 

Oryza CBOT Rough Rice Futures Recap - Chicago Rough Rice Futures Tumble as USDA Leaves Data Nearly Unchanged and Fails to Add Support

Mar 10, 2016

Chicago rough rice futures for May delivery settled 15 cents were cwt (about $3/ton) lower at $10.385 per cwt (about $229 per ton). The other grains finished the day with mixed results; Soybeans closed about 0.1% higher at $8.8575 per bushel; wheat finished about 0.6% higher at $4.6825 per bushel, and corn finished the day about 0.3% lower at $3.5950 per bushel.

U.S. stocks held mostly higher in choppy trade Wednesday as oil prices rose and investors awaited the outcome of Thursday's European Central Bank meeting. ECB President Mario Draghi is expected to announce more stimulative measures, with hopes of expansion of the asset purchase program and a possible further cut to the already negative deposit rate. U.S. crude oil futures held near $37.70 a barrel in afternoon trade. Earlier, WTI extended gains to trade more than 4% higher above $38 a barrel after weekly crude oil inventories showed a rise of 3.9 million barrels but a drop of 4.5 million barrels in gasoline inventories. Hopes of curbing production also supported oil gains.

An Iraqi oil official told state newspaper Al-Sabah that OPEC and non-OPEC members would meet in Moscow on March 20 to discuss an output freeze. However, Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said Wednesday that no time or place had been agreed for such a meeting this month, Reuters reported, citing the Russian TASS news agency. In economic news, weekly mortgage application volume increased 0.2% on a seasonally adjusted basis, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. Wholesale inventories rose 0.3% in January, while sales declined 1.3%.European stocks came off session highs to end about half a percent higher. The STOXX Europe 600 Banks index closed about a third of a percent higher.

Asian stocks closed mostly lower, with the Shanghai composite off about 1.3% and the Nikkei 225 0.8% lower. In afternoon trade, the Dow Jones industrial average gained 55 points, or 0.33%, to 17,019. The S&P 500 traded up 10 points, or 0.52%, to 1,989, with energy leading eight sectors higher, with telecommunications and consumer discretionary as the only decliners. The Nasdaq composite rose 16 points, or 0.35%, to 4,665. Gold is seen trading about 0.5% lower, crude oil is seen trading about 3.6% higher, and the U.S. dollar is seen trading about 0.2% lower at about  1:15pm Chicago time.Tuesday, there were 352 contracts traded, down from 677 contracts traded on Monday. Open interest – the number of contracts outstanding – on Tuesday increased by 4 contracts to 11,923. 

Vietnam Rice Exports Increase Slightly m/m in January 2016, Reports USDA Post

Mar 09, 2016

Vietnam has exported around 508,153 tons of rice in January 2016, slightly up from around 505,851 tons exported in December 2015, and up about 58% from around 320,750 tons exported in January 2015, reports USDA Post based on data from the General Customs Office and the Vietnam Food Association (VFA) .Asia accounted for around 322,076 tons (about 63% of total rice exports by Vietnam in January 2016) during the month. Month-on-month, Vietnam's rice exports to Asian destinations declined about 26% from around 435,780 tons exported in December 2015.

Year-on-year, they increased about 2.4 times from around 132,097 tons exported in January 2015.Vietnam exported around 88,802 tons of rice to Africa (about 17% of total January 2016 exports) in January 2016, about 3.25 times from around 27,337 tons exported in December 2015, and down about 23% from around 114,912 tons exported in January 2015.Vietnam exported around 84,732 tons of rice to American destinations (about 17% of January 2016 exports), about 2.4 times more from around 34,770 tons exported in December 2015, and up about 35% from around 62,625 tons exported in January 2015.

Vietnam's exports to Australia (about 0.2% of January 2016 exports) increased about 3.76 times to around 9,464 tons in January 2016 from around 2,513 tons exported in December 2015 and increased about 6.6 times from around 1,429 tons exported in January 2015.Vietnam's exports to Europe and CIS countries (about 0.6% of total January 2016 exports) accounted for around 3,079 tons in January 2016, down about 43% from around 5,451 tons exported in December 2015 and down about 68% from around 9,687 tons exported in January 2015.In terms of grade, 5% broken rice exports accounted for around 149,747 tons (or, about 29% of total January 2016 exports);

Jasmine rice exports accounted for around 117,208 tons (or, about 23% of total January 2016 exports); 15% broken rice exports accounted for around 129,414 tons (or, about 25% of total exports in January 2016); 25% broken rice exports accounted for around 52,294 tons (or, about 10% of total exports in January 2016); glutinous rice exports accounted for around 46,386 tons (or, about 9% of total January 2016 exports); and 10%, 100% and other varieties accounted for around 13,104 tons (or, about 2.5% of total exports in January 2016).

Vietnam Rice Quotes Mixed Today; Other Asia Rice Quotes Unchanged

Mar 09, 2016  

Vietnam rice sellers lowered their quotes for 5% broken rice by about $5 per ton to around $365-$375 per ton and increased their quotes for 25% broken rice, 100% broken rice and Jasmine rice by about $5 per ton each to around $355-$365 per ton, $340-$350 per ton and $450-$460 per ton respectively today. Other Asia rice sellers kept their quotes unchanged today.                      

5% Broken Rice

Thailand 5% rice is indicated at around $360 - $370 per ton, about $5 per ton discount to Vietnam 5% rice shown at around $365 - $375 per ton. India 5% rice is indicated at around $365 - $375 per ton, about $30 per ton premium on Pakistan 5% rice shown at around $335 - $345 per ton.

25% Broken Rice

Thailand 25% rice is indicated at around $350 - $360 per ton, about $5 per ton discount to Vietnam 25% rice shown at around $355- $365 per ton. India 25% rice is indicated at around $330 - $340 per ton, about $25 per ton premium on Pakistan 25% rice shown at around $305 - $315 per ton.

Parboiled Rice           

Thailand parboiled rice is indicated at around $365 - $375 per ton. India parboiled rice is indicated at around $355 - $365 per ton, about $50 per ton discount to Pakistan parboiled rice last shown at around $405 - $415 per ton.

100% Broken Rice

Thailand broken rice, A1 Super is indicated at around $325 - $335 per ton, about $15 per ton discount to Vietnam 100% broken rice shown at around $340 - $350 per ton. India's 100% broken rice is shown at around $260 - $270 per ton, about $25 per ton discount to Pakistan broken sortexed rice shown at around $285 - $295 per ton.

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