Global rice trade to fall on lower Philippines demand

LONDON, Mar 29 (Commodity Online): Inter­­­na­tional Grains Council said world rice trade is likely to fall marginally to 30.3 million tonnes due to slowing demand from the Philippines, world's largest importer of the commodity. In a monthly report, IGC said reduced deliveries to Asia, primarily to the Philippines, are only partly offset by larger shipments including to Europe and sub-Saharan Africa. The volume of the trade was 30.5 million tons last year, it estimated. Rice imports by the Philippines are likely to fall by more than 1.0 million tonnes to 1.4 million tonnes, it said. Indonesia's rice imports may rise by a third to a four-year high of 1.2 million tons, while Bangladesh's imports are forecast to rise 29 per cent to 900,000 tons, it said. Despite the forecast decline in global demand, Thailand's exports will likely rise by around 12 per cent to 10.0 million tons, due to lower supply from other leading exporters, notably Pakistan and Vietnam, IGC said. As of March 6, Thailand's rice exports in 2011 were 50 per cent higher than a year earlier at 1.8 million tonnes, it said.