By Luzi Ann Javier
Bloomberg
In Cambodia, which was forecast by the USDA to ship 1 million tons of rice this year, the FAO said 1.2 million people were affected by flooding that destroyed homes and hurt 332,634 hectares of rice fields. Before flooding, Cambodia was forecast to increase paddy production by 7.2 percent from a year earlier, to a record 8.9 million tons this year, the FAO said.
Rice jumped to the highest in more than a month after the United Nations said that flooding devastated crops in Southeast Asia, raising concerns of food shortages in affected areas.
Rough rice for January delivery jumped 50 cents, the most allowed by the Chicago Board of Trade, or 3 percent to $17.215 per 100 pounds as of 3:35 p.m. Singapore time. That’s the highest price for the most-active contract since Sept. 21.
About 12.5 percent of rice farmland in Thailand has been damaged, along with 6 percent in the Philippines, 12 percent in Cambodia, 7.5 percent in Laos and 0.4 percent in Vietnam, as storms hit the region since September, the UN Food & Agriculture Organization said in a report dated Oct. 21.
“We expect rice prices to propel higher, climbing a wall of worry underpinned by strong physical demand,” Lynette Tan, an analyst at Phillip Futures Pte., said in Singapore today.
Thailand, the world’s largest rice exporter, was forecast to represent 31 percent of the 34.2 million metric tons of global trade this year, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Vietnam is the second-biggest shipper, according to the USDA. Cambodia was the third-largest in Southeast Asia, while the Philippines was the top buyer last year, it said.
“There are concerns of serious food shortages in the affected communities due to the difficulties in delivering food assistance,” the FAO said in the e-mailed report.
Infrastructure Damage
Floods inundated more than two-thirds of Thailand, causing loss of life, damage to crops and livestock, closure of factories and severe damage to infrastructure, the FAO said.
About 16 percent of Philippine paddy production was lost to flooding and at least 485,000 hectares (1.2 million acres) of land planted with the grain, corn and high-value crops was damaged. Almost 3.3 million head of livestock and poultry were affected, it said.
In Cambodia, which was forecast by the USDA to ship 1 million tons of rice this year, the FAO said 1.2 million people were affected by flooding that destroyed homes and hurt 332,634 hectares of rice fields. Before flooding, Cambodia was forecast to increase paddy production by 7.2 percent from a year earlier, to a record 8.9 million tons this year, the FAO said.
To contact the reporter on this story: Luzi Ann Javier in Singapore at
ljavier@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: James Poole at
jpoole4@bloomberg.net
1 comment:
Have a Rice (Nice) day!
Post a Comment