Dear Subscriber, We are pleased to send you the new issue of the FAO Rice Price Update. ____________________________________________________________________ Brief commentary of the month: ˇ The FAO All Rice Price index (2002-04=100) averaged 195 points in January 2016, 1 point, or 0.7 percent, less than in December 2015. Prices faltered in all the four rice market segments, but in particular in the Aromatic rice market, which had its respective sub-index falling by 2.0 percent compared to December. ˇ Despite a soft demand, export quotations in Thailand tended to firm, reflecting mainly the thinning of supplies in private hands and expectations of much smaller than usual crop arrivals in the coming months. Against this backdrop, the quotation of the benchmark Thai 100%B white rice rose by 0.5 percent in January, with a more pronounced increase registered by its parboiled counterpart, which gained almost 4 percent. Prices in Pakistan were also up, on improved expectations for sales to China, the Near East and Africa. By contrast export prices softened in India, influenced by a weaker Rupee, the drop being stronger for basmati rice, as earlier expectations of a revival of demand from Iran failed to materialize. Prices were also down in Viet Nam, ahead of the imminent harvest of the winter/spring crop. In the Americas, prices moved down in the United States on limited buying interest, but also in Argentina, Uruguay and Brazil, accentuated in the three countries by a depreciation of local currencies. ˇ According to the FAO All Rice Price Index, international rice prices last month were 27 points, or 12.0 percent below their level in January 2015. Of all the segments, the Aromatic rice and Japonica rice recorded the strongest year-on-year declines. Although more resilient, Indica prices were also down. ___________________________________________________________________________ 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 94 countries. You might also be interested to visit: * Quarterly Rice Market Monitor: http://www.fao.org/economic/est/publications/rice-publications/rice-market-monitor-rmm/en/ * 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/ * The Monthly News Report on Grains: http://www.fao.org/economic/est/publications/grains-publications/monthly-news-report-on-grains-mnr/en/ * 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/ * 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/ * 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);