Global price of rice rising..

This will make life more difficult for the poorest in Asia who will be unable to buy enough rice to stave off starvation without a subsidy from their governments. The Philippines regularly imports rice as its own production is not sufficient to feed the entire population. Often the country sells to the poor at subsidized prices. This is from vietnamnews.

Storms drive up global rice price

by Le Hung Vong


A bid to sell 150,000 tonnes of rice to the Philippines won by the Southern Food Corporation (Vinafood 2) may help raise world rice prices, local media reports.

On November 4, Vinafood 2 won the rice exporting contract at US$480 per tonne, much higher than previous deals.

Prices are expected to continue to go up this year, as they did in 2008.

The Philippines’ scheduled bid to buy 600,000 tonnes of rice on December 1 could raise prices to $560 per tonne, the Viet Nam Food Association (VFA) has said.

Local senior economist Nguyen Dinh Bich was quoted by Sai Gon Marketing as saying that world rice prices have kept increasing.

Prices of Thai 15 per cent broken rice went up from $451 per tonne in October to $490 on November 13 and then to $495 on November 19, a total increase of $44 per tonne (9.8 per cent). Meanwhile, price of Viet Nam’s five per cent broken rice has also increased from $410 per tonne to $460 per tonne and then $480, representing a record price increase of $70 per tonne (17.1 per cent).

The upward tendency followed the Philippines announced plans to import some 1.2 million tonnes of rice while other rice producers face the risk of crop failure.

The Minister of Agriculture of the Philippines was quoted by Sai Gon Marketing as saying that the world rice price may return to the record price of 2008 due to the bad weather which has made output decrease sharply and has forced a number of countries to import the grain.

Philippines: Rice prices softening amid Japan offer, bumper crops

This is from AFP .
It is fortunate that the supply situation is improving and easing prices but the destruction of rice production in areas such as Myanmar(Burma) may offset this trend to some extent.

Philippines: rice prices softening amid Japan offer, bumper crops
1 day ago
MANILA (AFP) — The Philippines, one of the world's largest rice importers, said Friday prices are softening after Japan offered to sell rice to Manila amid news of bumper world harvests for 2008.
Large tenders by the Philippines to fill its expected 2008 production gap of up to 2.7 million tonnes have helped drive up prices by 76 percent between December 2007 and April 2008, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation.
However, the government's grain procurement arm, the National Food Authority (NFA), has seen prices in the international market ease, NFA spokesman Tom Escarez told AFP.
"Prices spike every time we have a large tender. The market became quiet after the tender for 675,000 tonnes failed and the market realised we were not in a hurry," he added.
A letter from Tokyo informing Manila that between 40,000 and 60,000 tonnes of Japanese rice is available also apparently helped calm the market, Escarez said.
The official said the two governments are currently negotiating the manner by which the supply will be procured, which he said would most probably be in the form of a soft loan or a negotiated supply contract.
The Philippines also expects some supplies to be offered from Pakistan when the NFA holds its next tender for about 200,000 tonnes early next month, he said.
Press reports this week have said Pakistan, the world's fifth largest rice exporter, was expected to allow exports of up to a million tonnes since local requirements have been met.
"The market price for rice has softened by about three percent," Escarez said.
Some reports have said that the market price over the past week has fallen by around 14 percent.
Escarez said Manila is hoping the trend would continue until August and September, when Thailand, the world's largest rice exporter, harvests it current crop.
FAO said in a statement released Monday that rice production in Asia, Africa and Latin America should reach a new record level of 666 million tonnes in 2008, up 2.3 percent from a year earlier.
However, it forecast that prices could remain high over the short term, citing the destruction of Myanmar's rice producing areas by Cyclone Nargis.
In an attempt to avoid food scarcities in their own countries, major rice exporters have recently imposed export bans, taxes or minimum ceilings, while large importers like the Philippines have reacted with massive auctions.
"These measures further restricted the availability of rice supplies on international markets, triggering yet more price rises and tighter supply conditions. At the moment, only Thailand, Pakistan and the United States, among leading exporters, are exporting rice without any constraints," the FAO statement said.