and 9 othersAsia Pacific food situation update - Nov 2008
and 9 others
Global financial crisis could affect food securityAlthough major cereal prices continued declining after surging to record highs earlier this year and the region looks forward to increased 2008 harvests, Asia-Pacific food security is likely to be negatively affected by the international financial meltdown. The economic slowdown in the OECD nations is affecting Asia's labour-intensive export industry leading to large-scale employee retrenchment, reducing the incomes of urban workers and their ability to buy food. A stronger US dollar has made food imports costlier for food-deficit countries. The global financial squeeze could reduce credit availability for upcoming harvests. In late October, the Philippine central bank urged commercial banks to increase lending for rice production and lowered the "risk weighting" of bank loans guaranteed by the government's Agricultural Guarantee Fund Pool (AGFP).
Rice prices continue sliding
Thai White Rice 100% Grade B fell from over US$700 in early October 2008 to about US$590 a month later with the Thai government due to sell 2.5 million tonnes of its more than 4 million tonnes of rice stock. The state procurement price was lowered from Baht_14 000 to Baht 12 000 this year, but was still higher than the market price in a bid to support the paddy harvest. International rice prices faced downward pressure from cheaper Vietnamese exports as well as from the Indian government's relaxation of restrictions on export of premium non-basmati rice. Bumper harvests in the main rice producing nations pushed prices down in several Asian countries, but these remain high in countries with internal market rigidities. Subsidized rice prices in Timor-Leste fell from US$17 to US$12.50 per 35 kg bag in October with farmers reportedly reluctant to sell the local surplus at the lower price. Farm gate prices of un-milled rice in some areas in the Philippines fell to half of the average of PHP18 last May. Average local wheat prices in Afghanistan in October, however, were more than double those a year ago.
Rice prices continue sliding
Thai White Rice 100% Grade B fell from over US$700 in early October 2008 to about US$590 a month later with the Thai government due to sell 2.5 million tonnes of its more than 4 million tonnes of rice stock. The state procurement price was lowered from Baht_14 000 to Baht 12 000 this year, but was still higher than the market price in a bid to support the paddy harvest. International rice prices faced downward pressure from cheaper Vietnamese exports as well as from the Indian government's relaxation of restrictions on export of premium non-basmati rice. Bumper harvests in the main rice producing nations pushed prices down in several Asian countries, but these remain high in countries with internal market rigidities. Subsidized rice prices in Timor-Leste fell from US$17 to US$12.50 per 35 kg bag in October with farmers reportedly reluctant to sell the local surplus at the lower price. Farm gate prices of un-milled rice in some areas in the Philippines fell to half of the average of PHP18 last May. Average local wheat prices in Afghanistan in October, however, were more than double those a year ago.
Key Content
- FEWS Food Security Outlook Update Mar 2011: Concerns shift from dryness to flooding
- Report of the Secretary-General on the situation in Afghanistan and its implications for international peace and security (S/2011/120)
- Afghanistan: Mid Year Report on Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict 2010
30 Nov 2008
Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, Democratic People's Republic of Korea (the), Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines (the), Sri Lanka, Timor-Leste
Bangladesh: Tropical Storm Rashmi - Oct 2008, Nepal: Floods and Landslides - Jul 2008, Nepal: Floods and Landslides - Sep 2008
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