We are pleased to send you the new issue of the FAO Rice Price Update. 

·        The FAO All Rice Price Index (2002-2004=100) averaged 222.6 points in August 2018, down 2.2 percent (5.1 points) from July and its lowest level since the start of 2018. Japonica and lower quality Indica prices were behind last month’s Index decline, falling 4.8 and 2.2 percent month-on-month, respectively. The decreases came as suppliers vied for fresh business, with japonica sentiment also influenced by the positive outlook for the soon to be launched harvest in California. Instead, the Higher Quality Indica Index held steady, while fragrant prices inched up by 1.0 percent on currency movements and seasonal tightness.

·         In Asia, Indica quotations registered the sharpest monthly fall in India, pressured by a Rupee depreciation and lacklustre buying interest. Since fresh demand remained limited, the undertone was also steady to weaker in Pakistan and Viet Nam, even though delays in the summer-autumn harvest induced by rains tended to cap losses in Viet Nam.  Competition with other suppliers also weighed on Thai A1 Super, but a stronger Baht, anticipated G2G sales to China and demand from the Philippines underpinned a partial recovery in most other Thai quotations. In the Americas, prices weakened in the United States, as the onset of the 2018 harvest provided room to narrow the large price differentials with South American origins hitherto sustained by limited availabilities. In Argentina and Uruguay, tight margins offset currency fluctuations and a quiet pace of trade, while Brazilian quotations rose again on expectations of sales remaining upbeat. 

·         This latest decline positioned the January-August average of the Index at 227.7 points, which is still 13.1 percent above its level in the corresponding period of 2017.