Dear Subscriber, We are pleased to send you the new issue of the FAO Rice Price Update. ____________________________________________________________________ Brief commentary of the month: * The FAO All Rice Price index (2002-04=100) averaged 197 points in December 2015, virtually the same value as in November, but 27 points or 12 percent below its level in December 2014. As per the various FAO sub-indices, prices were stable last month for the Higher Quality Indica, while they rebounded by 2 percent for the Lower Quality Indica rice. On the other hand, Japonica rice quotations were down by 1 percent, influenced by a retreat of prices in the US. However, the most relevant development of last month was the recovery of Basmati prices, which despite weaker Thai fragrant quotations, lifted the aromatic rice sub-index by close to 4 percent. * The arrival of new crop supplies generally weighed on Thai quotations, in particular for the fragrant varieties. It also affected negatively non-aromatic rice prices, bringing the benchmark Thai 100%B white rice down by 1.6 percent over the month. Prices in Viet Nam, after rising in November, remained steady last month. By contrast, they showed a tendency to firm in India, mirroring the support to the market provided through large government procurement purchases, and in Pakistan, on large trader purchases and a slight firming of the currency. In the Americas, prices generally declined in Argentina, the United States and Uruguay, while they continued to firm in Brazil, on a tightening of supplies. * The FAO All Rice Price Index reached a value of 211 points in 2015, 10.5 percent lower than in 2014. The retreat was particularly pronounced for aromatic rice, with its respective sub-index shedding 79 points or 31 percent compared to last year. According to the index, international rice prices in 2015 have hit their lowest level since 2007. ___________________________________________________________________________ For more information on prices, you can consult the Food Price Monitoring and Analysis Tool (http://www.fao.org/giews/pricetool/), which gives access to quotations of major traded products, including the high quality Thai white rice 100% B and the 100 % broken rice Thai A1 Super, from 2000 onwards. The site also hosts domestic (retail or wholesale) prices for major food commodities in 93 countries. You might also be interested to visit: ˇ Quarterly Rice Market Monitor: http://www.fao.org/economic/est/publications/rice-publications/rice-market-monitor-rmm/en/ ˇ The FAO World Food Situation portal, in particular the monthly update on the World Cereal Supply and Demand Situation and Outlook: http://www.fao.org/worldfoodsituation/en/ ˇ The Monthly News Report on Grains: http://www.fao.org/economic/est/publications/grains-publications/monthly-news-report-on-grains-mnr/en/ ˇ The Oilcrops Monthly Price and Policy Update (ten issues per year): http://www.fao.org/economic/est/publications/oilcrops-publications/oilcrops-monthly-price-and-policy-update/en/ ˇ Meat and Meat Products - Price and trade update (four issues per year): http://www.fao.org/economic/est/est-commodities/meat/meat-and-meat-products-update/en/ ˇ Milk and Milk products - Price and trade update (four issues per year): http://www.fao.org/economic/est/est-commodities/dairy/milk-and-milk-products/en/ Kind regards, Concepción Concepción Calpe Senior Economist, Secretary, Intergovernmental Group on Rice Trade and Markets Division Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations Viale delle Terme di Caracalla, Rome, Italy D-803 Tel. 39-06-570 54136 Fax 39-06-570 54495 e-mail: [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]> ######################################################################## To unsubscribe from the Rice-Market-L list, click the following link: &*TICKET_URL(Rice-Market-L,SIGNOFF);