Global rice prices up by 2.5pc in April

Global rice prices increased further in April, indicating a meagre chance of a decline in domestic markets amid higher import costs.
According to the latest report by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) under the UN, the prices of Indica species, the key rice variety consumed in South Asia, increased by 2.9 per cent in April compared to March.
The latest price is also 17.8 per cent higher than that of a year ago.
Despite the ongoing Boro harvest season across the country, rice prices still remained at their previous highs.
The FAO report stated that the FAO All Rice Price Index averaged 124.2 points in April 2023, up 2.5 per cent from its March value and 17.8 per cent above its year-earlier level.
Indica prices drove this increase with a 2.9 per cent rise above their March levels, as per the report.
The report further noted that Indica parboiled was traded at US $383 to $423 a tonne by India and $441 a tonne by Pakistan, while Thai 100 per cent parboiled jumped to $505 a tonne in April.
Although offseason harvests were underway in various Asian suppliers in April, purchases by Indonesia, alongside deals with Iraq and Malaysia, tended to boost market sentiment in Asia.
News of the Philippines' National Food Authority proposing to resume state imports added to the bullish sentiment earlier in the month, even though this plan was subsequently scrapped.
Against the backdrop, quotations of Indica rice rose across all major Asian origins, as per the FAO report.
Meanwhile, daily eating parboiled rice prices remained static, maintaining their previous highs in Bangladesh. Only aromatic rice hit an all-time high last month.
Coarse rice was sold at Tk 55-58, medium at Tk 62-65, and finer at Tk 75-100 per kg in the city on Friday, according to groceries in Dhaka.
Meanwhile, aromatic rice reached Tk 160-170 per kg in April, an all-time high.
However, despite the ongoing Boro harvest, with more than 45 per cent of the harvest completed so far, the local harvest could hardly cool down the red-hot prices.
The government is expecting a yield of 21.5 million tonnes of rice this Boro season, up from 20.2 million tonnes last year.

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