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

_________________

·         The FAO All Rice Price Index (2002-2004=100) declined by another 4.2 points (1.9 percent) in October 2018 to hit a twelve-month low of 218.0 points. Aromatic and Japonica quotations drove the decline, shedding 4.1 and 2.7 percent of their September values, respectively, due to harvest pressure. Currency depreciations in India and Pakistan added to the weak undertone in the fragrant market, as did competition for Far Eastern markets in the Japonica segment. Indica rice remained broadly steady month-on-month.

·         October quotations of Indica rice were mixed across the major Asian origins. Prices increased in Thailand and Viet Nam, buoyed by announcements of additional purchases by the Philippines, including the launch of three government tenders starting in October for a combined 750 000 tonnes. By contrast, quotations eased in India and Pakistan, as the onset of 2018 harvests coincided with currency depreciations in both countries. In India, additional downward pressure stemmed from a generally quiet pace of trade, while sales to regular African buyers partly mitigated falls in Pakistan. In the Americas, a deal with Iraq provided only partial support to US long-grain quotations, which fell for the fourth successive month to a 14-month low. Sales to Iraq and regional buyers provided more underpinning to prices in Argentina and Uruguay. In Argentina, as well as Brazil, price gains were further accentuated by currency appreciations.

·         According to the FAO All Rice Price Index, international rice prices in the first ten months of 2018 were 11 percent above year-earlier levels, mostly mirroring support provided by a spate of Asian purchases in the first half of the year, as well as tighter availabilities of Japonica rice in the United States and of Hom Mali rice in Thailand.