Cut in volume of milled rice seen due to bad weather

The forecast worldwide output of milled rice for the current crop year was lowered by 3.8 million metric tons to 513.5 million tons due to unfavorable weather in major rice-growing countries including the Philippines, according to the United Nations.

The United Nations’ food and agriculture organization (FAO) said in its latest monthly report the forecast output went down from 517.3 million tons.

The latest forecast is also lower than the estimated 517.8 million tons of rice produced the previous year, which was a new all-time high.

Describing the expected decrease as “small,” the FAO said much of the contraction was anticipated in Brazil, China, India and the United States—all blamed on weather setbacks, mainly excessive rains.

“[I]n the Philippines and China, recent reports indicate a lower area planted in 2019, resulting in a small downgrade of the production forecasts for these countries,” the UN agency said.

In a separate report, the UN-administered Agricultural Market Information System (Amis) said rice-growing conditions in the Philippines were a mix of favorable and unfavorable factors “due to heavy rains from several tropical cyclones as the harvest begins for wet-season rice.”

Yet another report—the FAO Food Price Index covering September data—the subindex of cereals was steady compared to the previous month’s situation, but rice prices decreased.

“International rice prices fell modestly amid slow import demand and uncertainties surrounding policies in the Philippines and Nigeria,” the FAO said.