Myanmar – The irrawaddy: Can Burma become world rice bowl again?
Source: BurmaNet News14/08/2012 – Burma has ambitions to try to regain its onetime stature as the world’s rice bowl when the country was by far the biggest exporter of the grain.
Philippines – Rice stock declines by 36.6% as of July
Source: Business World12/08/2012 – The country’s rice stock dropped by 36.6% year-on-year as of the start of July, with supply still sufficient to meet local demand for 56 days, the Bureau of Agricultural Statistics (BAS) said over the weekend.
USA – WASDE: Rice crop projected at 190 million Cwt
Source: AG Web10/08/2012 – U.S. total rice supplies for 2012/13 are projected at 244.4 million cwt, down 2.5 million from last month. Projected beginning stocks, imports, and production are each lowered from a month ago. USDA’s first survey-based forecast of the 2012/13 U.S. rice crop is 190.0 million cwt, down 1.0 million from last month’s projection,…
USA – Rice harvest mixed in Louisiana
Source: Vermilion Today.com11/08/2012 – Classifying the 2012 rice harvest in south Louisiana as good, bad or mediocre is proving to be a difficult challenge.
USA – Mississippi rice crop posting strong yields
Source: Delta Farm Press10/08/2012 – The bright spot for Mississippi’s smaller-than-normal rice crop is that it is looking good at harvest, thanks to an early start and a favorable growing season.
Thailand – Disastrous intervention puts Thai rice exporters in peril
Source: Reuters09/08/2012 – Millions of tonnes of rice that no one wants; huge losses for the state budget; farmers more interested in quantity than quality; exporters throwing in the towel. Thailand’s world-beating rice industry is in a sorry state.
Myanmar – Myanmar seeks to rejoin top rice exporters
Source: Chicago Tribune08/08/2012 – As Myanmar emerges from decades of isolation and oppression, it hopes to reclaim its nearly forgotten status as the world’s biggest rice exporter. That’s a tall order, but industry and government officials have begun drafting plans to revitalize the industry after years of neglect and military mismanagement.
Bangladesh – Bangladesh extends ban on most rice exports
Source: Reuters09/08/2012 – Bangladesh has extended a ban on the export of most varieties of rice until next June, the commerce secretary said on Thursday, backtracking on a plan to end the restriction.
The stream, August 8: Rice a bright spot for global food
Source: Circle of Blue08/08/2012 – Global rice production is expected to break records, putting downward pressure on rice prices at the same time droughts cause corn and soybean prices to skyrocket, Bloomberg News reported, citing the United States Department of Agriculture. Thailand, the world’s biggest rice exporter, is also amassing its biggest stockpile of the grain…
Thailand – Rice associations, farmers call for urgent review of pledging policy
Source: The Nation07/08/2012 – Farmers and trade bodies have called on the government to review urgently its rice-pledging policy on the grounds that it is distorting prices, benefiting the rich as well as foreign investors, damaging the Kingdom’s competitiveness and discouraging the long-term development of Thai rice.