Global rice production falls

USDA projections suggest that there will be a 4% decline in global rice production this year. Predictions for global rice stocks suggest levels 21% below a year earlier and the lowest since 1987/88. A decline in Indian rice production is the major factor in this global decline, with the 2002/03 rice forecast showing the lowest output in India since 1992/93. Continued drought in Venezuela also saw production down by a third, while Mexican production saw an even steeper decline (44%) caused by low prices and reduced use of inputs. However, US rice exports are projected at a record 109 million cwt. The report also contains details of price trends and country-by-country production and consumption trends. Comment: Expanding US rice exports are bad news for ACP Caribbean rice producers who are currently looking for new regional markets to replace the EU market, where prices are set to fall by over a third by 2004 (and where production is set to increase despite these price reductions as a result of the shift over to a direct aid payments system of farm support in the rice sector).USDA projections suggest that there will be a 4% decline in global rice..