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Rice imports into SA on the decrease

16 Aug 2016

As a net importer of rice, trends in the global rice markets are crucial to South Africa. According to Wandile Sihlobo, economist at Agbiz, the nation's rice imports have increased by 13% over the past 15 years, from 544,351 tons in 2001 to 615,805 tons in 2015. In the first quarter of 2016, however, rice imports reached 194,331 tons, which is 15% lower than the corresponding period last year and the lowest quarterly import volume since Q2, 2014.

Peggy_Marco via pixabay

In 2015, South Africa predominantly imported rice from Thailand with an import share of 50%, India at 36%, followed by Vietnam at 8%, United States (US) at 2%, Brazil at 2% and Pakistan with a share of 1%. Generally, local households prefer rice as a substitute for maize meal, which explains the interchange in rice import volumes and domestic white maize consumption.

Between 2013 and 2015, South Africa’s rice imports halved. This can be explained by a number of reasons, which include the country’s re-exports to the region (Africa), as well as the weaker rand against the US dollar which has made rice imports relatively more expensive. Over the period observed, Thailand’s rice price decreased by 20%, from an average US$489/t in 2013 to US$389/t in 2015. At the same time, the rand depreciated by 25% against the dollar.

Meanwhile, global rice production has remained fairly stable, with production in the 2015/16 season negatively affected by unfavourable weather conditions in major producing regions. However, production is set to recover by 3% year-on-year in the 2016/17 season. Key global rice producers are India, Vietnam, Thailand, the US, Pakistan, China, Indonesia, and Bangladesh. Moreover, 2016/17 global rice consumption is expected to increase by 1,2% from the previous season, to 489 million tons . In the same season, global ending stocks are expected to fall by 2% from the 2015/16 season, to 100 million tons. – Agbiz Research

Read this article on Agri Africa.