Global rice production in the 2005/06 marketing year is projected at 410.3 million tonnes, up more than 8 million tonnes from the previous year due to increases in China, India, Bangladesh and Thailand, the US Agriculture Department said on Friday. The USDA's Foreign Agricultural Service said in its quarterly international trade report for rice that consumption would continue to outpace production in 2005/06.
That will reduce ending stocks by 6 million tonnes to 68.5 million. "However, with the majority of the decline in China, stocks in the rest of the world are forecast to show a minor gain for the first time in 5 years," the report said. The United States will export an estimated 120 million-hundredweight of rice in 2005/06, well above last year's 106 million cwt in shipments, the USDA said.
"With anticipated record supplies and competitive prices, the US is expected to gain market share in the Middle East and the Western Hemisphere," the report said.