FAO's rice price index falls by 2.4 percent

02-Aug-2024 07:28 PM

Rome. The average level of the overall rice price index Persian of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), an agency of the United Nations, fell to 133.3 points in July 2024, which was 2.4 percent lower than the June level of 136.6 points and the lowest level in the last 12 months.

Under this, especially the Indica category rice Persian fell by 2.9 percent. Similarly, the price index of Japonica rice came down by 2.1 percent due to sluggish trade activities.

The price index of aromatic rice remained largely stable, but the Persian of glutinous rice rose by 0.6 percent compared to June. Its price increased mainly due to Thailand, as the availability of glutinous rice decreased significantly there.

The sentiment of softness persisted in most Asian countries for Indica rice during July due to lack of space at ports, shortage of containers and high freight rates of containers.

The Government of India is paying special attention to increasing the supply and availability of rice in the domestic sector, but is in no mood to allow exporters to export white rice despite the presence of huge stocks in the central pool.

On the other hand, it was reported that paddy harvesting will continue in Vietnam till July. The estimate of rice export from Thailand has also been increased.

As a result, the price of whole rice in both these countries fell by 3 to 7 percent during the month of July as compared to June.

The average export offer price of 5 percent broken Indian Sela rice during July 2024 was recorded at $ 537 per tonne, which was almost equal to June but 23 percent higher than the average price of July 2023.

The export offer price of rice from countries like Argentina, Brazil, Pakistan, Thailand, Vietnam, Uruguay remained high during July 2024 as compared to July 2023.