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

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·         The FAO All Rice Price Index (2002-2004=100) declined for the third successive month in September 2018, falling 1.1 percent (2.5 points) below August levels to 222.2 points. Prices eased in all the major market segments in September, but the largest fall was registered in the fragrant market owing to frail demand and a depreciation of the Indian Rupee. This resulted in the Aromatic Index dipping by 2.6 percent month-on-month to a 13-month low of 212.5 points. In the Indica and Japonica segments, sales to Asian buyers and currency movements limited September price declines to 1 percent, or less.

·         Among the major Asian exporters, the undertone was weakest in India, where generally improved prospects for the Kharif crop added to downward pressure exerted by a weaker Rupee and a timid pace of sales. Subdued buying interest also resulted in softer Pakistani prices, notwithstanding lingering concerns over the impact of short water supplies on the timing and size of the 2018 harvest. By contrast, prospects of additional purchases by the Philippines kept quotations steady to firmer in Thailand and Viet Nam. A strengthening of the Thai Baht and a G2G sale to China lent further support in Thailand, as did the conclusion of the early summer-autumn harvest in Viet Nam. In the Americas, harvest progress continued to weigh on US quotations. Prices also eased in Argentina, amid efforts to attract buyers, and in Brazil, owing to the Real’s depreciation, while Uruguayan quotations held steady.

·         According to the Index, international prices in the first nine months of 2018 were 12.2 percent above their corresponding level in 2017, mirroring increases in all the major rice market segments.