Drought hits rice harvests in Thailand, Philippines

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Gạo Thơm

Fri, 30/07/2010 - 12:21 am.

Drought hits rice harvests in Thailand, Philippines

EL NINO threatens to parch rice crops in the Philippines, the world's biggest importer, and in Thailand, the largest exporter, according to officials in both countries. "Between 20 and 30 percent of the areas planted to rice in provinces hit by El Niño are at risk of damage due to the dry spell," Agriculture Undersecretary Emmanuel Paras said.

Thailand’s rice output might drop 15 percent to as low as 27 million metric tons in the year that began Oct. 1, from 31.65 million tons a year earlier, Apichart Jongskul, secretary general of the Office, said in Bangkok Thursday.

Lower output in Thailand may limit its capacity to boost shipments to meet additional purchases from importing countries including the Philippines, helping support global prices.

Rice futures rose to a record in April 2008 in Chicago, and the Asian benchmark export price reached its highest level a month later as the Philippines boosted imports and exporters including India and Vietnam curbed shipments, adding to concerns of food shortages that sparked protests from Haiti to Egypt.

While the US Department of Agriculture increased its estimate for this year’s global rice stockpiles, the extra supply was seen coming from India and China, which it did not forecast to increase exports. “Unfortunately, most of these additional stocks, with the exception of Thailand, will not be available to the market in case prices start to rise,” an economist in Manila said. Bloomberg