GLOBAL rice production in November is expected to remain flat as a large harvest from India is expected to offset lower volumes from Indonesia and the Philippines, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) said.

“Global rice production is nearly unchanged this month, as a larger Indian crop is fully offset by smaller harvests for Indonesia and the Philippines,” USDA said in its Grain: World Markets and Trade report for November.

During the month, the USDA estimated rice imports by the Philippines at 2.5 million metric tons (MT), down 7% month-on-month. The decline in imports is also associated with a preliminary investigation into possible safeguard duties by the Philippine Department of Agriculture (DA), which was later cancelled.

Output of milled rice in the Philippines is expected to decrease 1.6% month-on-month to 12 million MT. Consumption and residual totals of purchased rice in the country is also projected to decrease 2% month-on-mont to 14.2 million MT.

Philippine rice inventory at the end of the month is expected to remain steady at 3.790 million MT.

In a separate report on World Agricultural Production, USDA noted that the Philippines’ November production is projected to rise 2.28% year-on-year.

Yields is also projected to increase 4.05 MT per hectare, or 1.5% month-on-month. Over the same period, area harvested is projected to decrease 3% to 4.7 million hectares.

The USDA said the Philippines remains is one of the leading markets for Chinese corn starch.

“Major destinations for China’s exports have been neighboring countries. For corn starch, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Vietnam have been the leading markets,” the USDA said.

Corn production in the Philippines is projected to be stable at 8.1 million MT in November.

Southeast Asia is projected to import 18.005 million MT of corn in the November, up 5% compared to the estimate for October. Consumption is expected to increase 2% to 50.450 million MT. — Vincent Mariel P. Galang

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