Lower global rice output seen on PH production concerns

The expected volume of globally harvested rice for the crop year 2015-2016 that started this month was adjusted downwards due to production concerns in the Philippines.

According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), worldwide production is now forecast at 499 million tons, down by 2 million tons from last month’s figure.

Still, the reduced forecast is 4 million tons or 0.8 percent higher than the estimated 495 million tons harvested in the previous 12 months.

“Rice production [is] curbed, mainly on less positive prospects for India and the Philippines, and despite much improved expectations for Indonesia,” the latest monthly Market Monitor report of the Agricultural Market Information System (Amis) stated.

The Amis, an interagency body administered by the FAO, said rice-planting conditions remain mixed across the globe.

For example, conditions are generally favorable in India and China while there is some concern in Vietnam due to dry weather.

Similarly, “in the Philippines, planting of the wet season crop continues and there is some concern over dry conditions,” the Amis reported.

The Amis observed that conditions in Thailand, Vietnam, and the Philippines are drier than average, consistent with expectations for the El Niño years.