The Philippines Department of Agriculture announced the need to import another 500 KMT of rice. The country is already the second largest importer of rice after China, and this purchase will ensure it is a record year for Philippine imports. For most staple commodities, this is not a large volume, but rice is a relatively thinly traded crop. Only about 10 percent of global rice production is traded, with the Philippines typically taking about 5 percent of the total.  The Philippines averages around 12 MMT of rice production per year with imports comprising an average 17 percent of consumption. In India, the world’s largest exporter of rice, prices for 25 percent broken hit $436.60/MT, the highest level since 2011. Notably, ev...

TAGS – Softs, Asia