27th November,2015 Daily Exclusive ORYZA Rice E-Newsletter by Riceplus Magazine

Oryza U.S. Rough Rice Recap - Silent Market ahead of Thanksgiving Holiday

Nov 26, 2015

The U.S. cash market was silent and unchanged today as most market participants took off early for the holiday weekend.

Analysts note that the futures market will be closed tomorrow for Thanksgiving and will not re-open until Friday morning however the cash market will remain quiet as most participants will  still be on vacation.                                                                         

Lack of Proper Pricing Policy for Paddy By-products Leads to Great Rice Milling Scam in India, Says CAG Report

Nov 25, 2015

An audit report by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has found that India does not have proper pricing policy for by-products of rice such as bran, husk, broken rice and nooks, according to The Wire. The report has unearthed the great rice milling scam, which has been going on uninterruptedly for more than a decade, when the existing milling rules were formulated.

The report states that the by-products of rice enjoy a huge demand in the local as well as global market. When the government hands over the paddy procured from farmers to millers for public distribution system (PDS) purposes, millers are left with nearly 32-33 kilograms of by-products per quintal (around 320 - 330 kilograms per ton) of paddy after milling the rice. This includes 22 kilograms of rice husk, 8 kilograms of rice bran and 2 kilograms of broken rice, according to the Central Rice Research Institute.

The CAG report states that while the government pays about Rs.87 per quintal (around $13 per ton) for millers, they earn an extra Rs.169 per quintal (around $26 per ton) of paddy by selling the by-products, which they get for free. The government has not so far considered the by-products while pricing for milling paddy. It notes that the government has been losing nearly Rs.10,000 crore (around $1.5 billion) per year due to its faulty policy of giving the millers sole rights over the by-products of paddy. The accumulated losses over the years would have crossed over Rs.100,000 crore (around $15 billion), says the report.

The report will advise the government that the paddy by-products are the property of the state and the revenue belongs to the exchequer. It will also advise the government to address this loophole by millers, politicians and other high profile people. It will be tabled in the winter session of the Parliament, which will begin shortly.

Oryza Weekly: Global Rice Quotes Stagnant Ahead of U.S. Thanksgiving Holiday

Nov 26, 2015

The Oryza White Rice Index (WRI), a weighted average of global white rice export quotes, ended the week at about $393 per ton, unchanged from a week and a month ago, and down about $46 per ton from a year ago.

Thailand

Thailand 5% broken rice is today shown at about $355 per ton, unchanged from a week ago, down about $5 per ton from a month ago, and down about $55 per ton from a year ago.

The dry season rice crop 2015-16 (November-April) output is expected to decline to around 4 million tons, about 25% less than last year, due to El Nino-induced drought conditions.

The government plans to continue with the auction of about 37,412 tons of rotten rice from its stockpiles as scheduled on December 1, despite recommendations from the Thai Agricultural Surveyors Association to suspend the auction.

Thailand has exported about 1.2 million tons of rice in October, up about 67% m/m from in September but down about 1% y/y from October 2014.  In terms of value, Thai rice exports declined by about 17.6% y/y to around $490 million.

Vietnam

Vietnam 5% broken rice is today shown at about $375 per ton, unchanged from a week and month ago, and down about $20 per ton from a year ago.

Demand for Vietnam’s medicinal rice varieties, such as Ngoc do huong dua (red gem with pineapple flavor), Vibigaba, an organic Japonica brown rice, and organic black sprout gaba rice, is increasing significantly both within and outside the country.

Cambodia 5% broken rice is today shown at about $420 per ton, unchanged from a week and a month ago, and down about $40 per ton from a year ago.

Myanmar 5% broken rice is today shown at about $410 per ton, unchanged from a week and a month ago.

India

India 5% broken rice is today shown at about $350 per ton, unchanged from a week and a month ago, and down about $50 per ton from a year ago.

An audit report by the Comptroller and Auditor General has found that India does not have the proper pricing policy for by-products of rice such as bran, husk, broken rice and nooks.  The report unearthed the great rice milling scam, which has been going on uninterruptedly for over a decade, when the existing milling rules were formulated.

Iraq’s Trade Ministry purchased 40,000 tons of Indian rice, part of a tender issued on October 21.

The UN’s Food and Agricultural Organization forecasts Nepal’s 2016 rice imports at around 640,000 tons, up about 14% from 2015, due to an expected decline in this year’s paddy rice production.

The government of Bangladesh has decided to double the import duty on rice to 20% in efforts to discourage imports and protect local rice farmers.  However, rice millers in the country are urging the government to increase the duty on rice imports to 30%.

Pakistan

Pakistan 5% broken rice is today shown at about $325 per ton, up about $5 per ton from a week ago, up about $15 per ton from a month ago, and down about $60 per ton from a year ago.

In the first four months of FY 2015-16 (July-June), Pakistan exported about 1.03 million tons of rice, an increase of about 20% from the same period in FY 2014-15.

The UN’s FAO forecasts Pakistan 2015 paddy rice production at around 9.9 million tons, down about 6% from 10.502 million tons in 2014.  The decline is attributed to a 5% decrease in area planted in response to large stocks and high production costs.

Central & South America

Brazil 5% broken rice is today shown at about $500 per ton, down about $10 per ton each from a week ago and a month ago, and down about $50 per ton from a year ago. The Brazilian paddy rice index maintained by the Center for Advanced Studies on Applied Economics (CEPEA) reached around 41.28 real per 50 kilograms as of November 23, 2015, slightly up from around 41.22 real per 50 kilograms recorded on November 17, 2015.  In terms of USD per ton, the index reached around $223.17 per ton on November 23, 2015, up about 2% from around $218.98 per ton recorded on November 17, 2015.  Month-on-month, the index has increased about 1% from around 40.88 real per 50 kilograms. In terms of USD, the index increased about 6% during the month.

Five per cent broken rice from Uruguay and Argentina is today shown at about $535 per ton, unchanged from a week and a month ago, and down about $65 per ton from a year ago.

The Nicaraguan Institute of Agricultural Technology has developed a new drought-resistant rice variety, INTA-Posoltega.

U.S.

U.S. 4% broken rice is today shown at about $490 per ton, unchanged from a week and a month ago and up about $55 per ton from a year ago.

Chicago rough rice futures for January delivery saw limited movement during this short holiday week with the weekly high hitting $12.320 per cwt (about $272 per ton) on Wednesday and the low reaching $12.030 per cwt (about $265 per ton) on Monday.  Futures closed on Wednesday just up from the low at $12.120 per ton (about $267 per ton).

The U.S. cash market was mostly quiet this week as holiday doldrums set in, but did firm up some before the holiday, in tandem with the futures market.

Other Markets

Iran has decided to temporarily lift the ban on rice imports, which has been in effect since October 2014, for a period of three months starting December 3.

During the first ten months of 2015, China has imported around 2.636 million tons of rice, up about 31% from the same period last year.

European paddy quotes showed slight movements during the week November 10-17, according to European quotations supplied by the European Union on November 17.

Italy’s milled rice exports declined about 23% y/y during the period September 1 – November 17, reaching only 27,947 tons.

The new genetically modified rice variety called “SUSIBA2” has been selected for the “Best of What’s New” award by the Popular Science magazine.

Contents have been shared with permission of ORYZA.com

26th November,2015 Daily Global,Regional & Local Rice E-Newsletter by Riceplus Magazine-Latest Rice News Updates

Rice exports post 10.78 percent increase in four months

Thursday, 26 November 2015 18:22

Posted by Imaduddin

ISLAMABAD: Rice exports from the country during first four months of current financial year posted 10.78 percent growth as compared to the exports of corresponding period of last year.During the period from July-October, 2015 about 898,603 metric tons of rice worth US$ 339.92 million exported as against exports of 657,420 metric tons valuing US$ 306.89 million in same period last year.According the data of Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, rice exports on month basis also grew by 24 percent during the month of October as compared to same month of last year.During the month of October about 347,685 metric tons of rice worth US$121.66 million was exported as compared to 22,948 metric tons valuing US$ 9.493 million of same month last year.However, the data reveled that exports of basmati rice decreased by 31.22 percent in first four months of current financial year and reached at 131,160 metric tons from 174,191 metric tons of same period of last financial year.

During the period under review, country managed to earned US$ 145.43 million by exporting the basmati rice as against US$ 11.319 million of same period last year, it added.Meanwhile, wheat exports registered 100 percent increase as about 1,061 metric tons of wheat were exported during the period from July-October, 2015 and earned US$ 0.220 million.The data revealed that vegetable exports during last four months has also witnessed an increase of 89 percent as the country was able to export 195,659 metric tons of fish vegetables of different kind and fetched US$56.779 million for the country.The vegetable exports during first four months of last financial year was recorded at 85,420 metric tons valuing US$ 28.689 million, the data revealed.During the period from July-October, 2015, meat and meat preparations exports grew by 36.32 percent about 25,925 metric tons of meat and meat products worth US$ 90.218 million exported, it added.

Meat and meat preparation exports from country was recorded at 21,433 metric tons valuing US$ 66.183 million in first four months of last financial year, the data said.However, overall food group exports from the country during first four months remained to declining trend as it reduced by 8.17 percent as compared to same period of last year.During the period under review, food exports came down from US$ 1.205 billion to US$ 1.107 billion as exports of some items including rice basmati,fish and fish preparations, fruits and leguminous recorded negative growth in their exports.It may be recalled here that food group imports in country decreased by 12.89 percent as compared to same period of last year which were recorded at US $1.705 billion as compared to the imports of $1.954 billion in July-October (2014-15).The food imports on year-on-year basis also decreased by 3.42 percent from $524.363 million in October 2014 to $506.438 million in October 2015.

Copyright APP (Associated Press of Pakistan), 2015

Asia rice prices high in Vietnam on tight supply

Wednesday, 25 November 2015 17:14

Posted by Imaduddin

HANOI: Asian rice markets saw little movement over the past week due to thin demand, while tight supply kept prices high in Vietnam and purchases by China and some Middle East clients failed to move up Thai prices, traders said on Wednesday.The rice export markets in Thailand and Vietnam, the world's second and third biggest exporters of the grain after India, could stay quiet until early 2016 as most demand has been met before the holidays, traders said."Vietnamese prices are high and they won't decrease as supply is tight," said a trader in Ho Chi Minh City.Vietnam's 5-percent broken grain has been idle over the past month at $375-$380 a tonne, free-on-board (FOB) Saigon Port, while the 25-percent broken grain fell to $360-$365 a tonne from $362-$365 a tonne a week ago.

The next harvest is due to start in late February 2016 in the southern Mekong Delta food basket.Prices have been firm due to tight supply, especially of the 15-percent broken rice bought by Indonesia in a deal involving 1 million tonnes, traders said.Rising rice prices following Vietnam's sales to the Philippines and Indonesia have contributed to a 0.31 percent gain in the country's November food prices, the first month-on-month rise since February 2015, the government said.China, the biggest buyer of Vietnamese rice, imported 199,350 tonnes from its southern neighbour in October, up 81 percent from a year ago, Chinese customs data shows.This brought China's total purchases from Vietnam in the first 10 months of 2015 to nearly 1.6 million tonnes, up 42 percent from a year ago.

Overall, Vietnam's rice exports in January-November rose 3.6 percent from a year ago to 6.24 million tonnes, the Agriculture Ministry said on Wednesday.China and several buyers in the Middle East have also been buying small lots of Thai rice, traders said.Thai 5-percent broken grain was unchanged at $360-$365 on Wednesday, FOB basis."All the rice needed for holidays like Christmas and New Year's Day has already been bought months earlier," said a trader in Bangkok, adding that the sale slump was expected to last until early January 2016.In another development, Indonesia was expected to sign a memorandum of understanding soon with Pakistan on rice imports, the Jakarta Post reported last Thursday without giving any details on price or volume.

http://www.brecorder.com/markets/commodities/asia/263722-asia-rice-prices-high-in-vietnam-on-tight-supply.html

Kerala scientists develop saltwater-tolerant paddy

t. nandakumargenes tolerant to salinity and iron toxicity were put into another variety

saltol jyothi, the new variety of saltwater-tolerant paddy developed by scientists at the rice research station, vyttila in kochi.cientists at the rice research station of kerala agricultural university (kau) at vyttila have developed a new variety of paddy tolerant to saline intrusion, a major challenge faced by farmers in the lowlands.the landmark achievement in rice research was made possible by the introduction of genes tolerant to salinity and iron toxicity into jyothi, kerala’s most popular rice variety. the project which began in 2008 involved the incorporation of the saltol gene present in pokkali, the most saline tolerant rice variety in the world, into jyothi.

thus jyothi, known for its superior grain quality, yet restricted by the lack of saline tolerance, has become suitable for pokkali fields, kuttanad and kolelands as well, according to the researchers.the scientists used the introgressive hybridisation technique to move the saltol gene from pokkali to the gene pool of jyothi. the project was part of a long-term programme initiated by kau for the development of stress-tolerant rice varieties for less favourable environments. the saltol gene is the donor for salinity-tolerant rice breeding programmes all over the world.“the attempt to introduce saltol into jyothi has borne fruit after seven years of research. the introgressed jyothi lines have recorded a very high yield of 6.2 tonnes per hectare,” said p. rajendran, kau vice-chancellor.v. sreekumar, professor and head, rrs, vyttila, said the introgressed jyothi variety was suitable for cultivation in the eastern and western coastal areas of the indian peninsula.

the research team is now working on the introduction of a submergent tolerant gene (sabl) into jyothi, to make the rice variety resistant to flash floods up to two weeks.the work is in the final stage, he said. submergence is another major challenge faced by farmers in the lowlands.shylaraj, who piloted the research work, said that introgressing the saline tolerant gene into jyothi was achieved through the marker assisted backcross breeding (mabb) technique.

kerala agricultural university scientists used introgressive hybridisation method to achieve this

http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/kerala-scientists-develop-saltwatertolerant-paddy/article7920995.ece 

Association decries rise in rice smuggling

By Damilola Ajadi on November 26, 2015 5:12 am

Bags Of RiceTHE Association of Local Growers and Legal Importers of Rice has raised the alarm over high level of smuggling of the product into Nigeria.Chairman of the association, Alhaji Habilu Maishinkafa, noted that there were reports of hundreds of trailers coming into the country with expired rice, which he said were dangerous to the health of Nigerians.He called on the Nigerian Customs Service and the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration Control (NAFDAC) to take urgent steps to stem the rising wave of rice smuggling into the country.

Maishinkafa noted that with the present tariff of 70 percent, legal importers would not be able to compete with the smugglers who enjoyed free ride into the nation’s market and coupled with the negligible tariffs in the neighbouring countries.Recently, the National Rice Millers Association of Nigeria (NRMAN) complained that the Nigerian Customs Service erred in its decision to lift the ban on importation of rice through the land borders.

http://www.ngrguardiannews.com/2015/11/association-decries-rise-in-rice-smuggling/

Mars' sustainable rice standard more than crop-ticking exercise

By Ben Cooper | 26 November 2015

Uncle Ben's owner Mars will only source "sustainable" rice by 2020

Recent years have seen the launch of numerous sustainability standards and initiatives across various agricultural commodities. Ben Cooper assesses the significance of the new standard for sustainable rice, launched by the Sustainable Rice Platform and Mars Inc.Such is the attention being paid by food companies to agricultural supply chains, it is tempting to regard the Sustainable Rice Platform's (SRP) new standard for sustainable rice, given a high-profile launch last month, as one more initiative, another crop ticked by a major food company and covered by a multi-stakeholder sustainable sourcing programme.

But it is arguably far more significant than that.There are a host of reasons why this first step to standardise – and notably equalise upwards – environmental and social standards under which rice is cultivated and sourced globally is a landmark event.Rice supports the livelihoods of around 150m farmers globally and is the staple food source for more than 2bn people. Moreover, unlike some other commodities that have become subject to multi-stakeholder sustainability initiatives, rice is predominantly consumed as a staple food crop in the world.

http://www.just-food.com/analysis/mars-sustainable-rice-standard-more-than-crop-ticking-exercise_id131789.aspx