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Global perspective of rice trade

Sep 19, 2009 Letters

Dear Editor,
Recently, in Guyana, there have been questions concerning the price of rice on the local market.
But before we start thinking of the local markets, I think it’s very critical that we examine and focus our attention to what is happening on the international scene, since this is what determines our prices locally. I have been following the recent trends on the world market as it relates to rice and its prices and there has been a drop in the prices for rice traded internationally.
International prices of the major traded rice varieties have been weakening in the past several months. The slide was particularly pronounced for the rice with a high percentage of brokens, which was priced 36 percent less in January-May 2009 than in the first five months last year. Over the same time periods, the prices of the higher quality aromatic rice varieties dropped by 9 percent. In August, 2009, rice prices fell 7.4% on news that stocks held by Thai government rose to its highest levels on record. This can be clearly seen in the table below:

RICE EXPORT PRICE (US $/t FOB)
2009 Thai 25% Viet 25% US LG 24% Thai PB 100% Pak 25%
Jan 471 360 625 664 342
Feb 480 393 586 677 353
March 488 400 529 666 350
April 473 400 540 604 360
May 445 377 544 575 360
June 457 362 537 612 340
July 459 359 530 632 340
August 443 345 544 586 360
Published by FAO – Rice Price Update September 2009 issue.

We can clearly see the drop in the prices in the table above and this is one of the major contributors for the decrease of prices locally.
The recent price trend is threatening the viability of the industry, at a time when food security and food sovereignty are critical. However, in Guyana, the production level is quite high since last year it was made evident that we had the highest production in the history of rice in Guyana. I am quite sure that this will continue this year.
As a concerned Guyanese with interest in the rice industry, I wish to urge my colleagues in the rice industry that this trend is not likely to last forever and we might see an increase for the upcoming crops. Prices will fluctuate and we are in the business of production and trading, hence sometimes the horizons will be bright and at other times will get dim. I will make it my duty to write my findings in the letter column of the print media.
Samuel Singh

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