Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Volume 5, Issue I
Daily Exclusive
ORYZA Rice
Newsletter
Genome editing may allow scientists to improve rice crops, according to an article on
phys.org. Principal investigator Cornell University researcher Adam Bogdanove and Jan Leach,
professor of Bioagricultural Sciences and Pest Management at Colorado State University are
exploring the ability for disease resistance and tolerance to acidic soils to be edited out of rice
genomes. Professor Leach says that 15% of rice paddy yield is lost to disease.
"We have the ability to open the genome like a book, go to a certain chapter and a specific word
[ referring to a DNA sequence] and change the word or correct its spelling," phys.org quotes
Bogdanove.The quick results of genome editing are contrasted with the slow process of rice
plant breeding. Genome editing is also not the same as genetic engineering, which is less precise;
Bogdanove compares genetic engineering to inserting a particular sentence somewhere at
Chicago rough rice futures for Jul delivery settled 10 cents per cwt (about $2 per ton) lower at
$9.695 per cwt (about $214 per ton). The outlook for Rough rice futures remains bleak as prices
continue to make double digit moves lower and continues to see aggressive selling in afternoon
trading. Technical weakness was compounded by market wide bearishness. The other grains
turned negative today, pressured by a steep decline in crude prices as well as strength in the US
dollar; Soybeans closed about 0.8% lower at $9.7500 per bushel; wheat finished about 1.4%
lower at $4.7275 per bushel, and corn finished the day about 2.4% lower at $3.5775 per bushel.
U.S. stocks traded higher on Thursday as investors awaited Friday's jobs report and yields eased
slightly from recent highs. Thursday's gains marked a rebound from the last two days' selloffs.
Initial claims for state unemployment benefits rose 3,000 to a seasonally adjusted 265,000 for the
week ended May 2, the Labor Department said on Thursday. Claims for the prior week were
unrevised at 262,000, which was the lowest reading since April 2000. To be sure, Wednesday's
ADP report showed the U.S. private sector added 169,000 jobs, the fewest since January 2014.
The report is not necessarily correlated with the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics' data due Friday.
Investors also kept on eye on crude, which eased off its highs for 2015 but remained about half
the peak levels of last summer.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average traded up 113 points, or 0.63%, at 17,956. The S&P 500
traded up 12 points, or 0.55%, at 2,092, with information technology leading nine sectors higher
energy the only decliner. The Nasdaq traded up 35 points, or 0.72%, at 4,955. Gold is trading
about 0.7% lower, crude oil is seen trading about 3.2% lower, and the U.S. dollar is seen trading
about 0.7% higher at about 1:00pm Chicago time.Wednesday, there were 1,022 contracts traded,
up from 853 contracts traded on Tuesday. Open interest the number of contracts outstanding
on Wednesday increased by 14 contracts to 10,841.
Authentic
North
Wild rice is North Americas only native grain. In fact, the grain is not technically rice but an
annual water grass seed, zizania. In the U.S., wild rice is both hand harvested and
cultivated.Harvesting wild rice for thousands of years, the Ojibwe Native Americans call wild
rice manomin, or good berry; it grows in rivers and lakes and is harvested by canoe and flail
sticks.Since the 1950ss wild rice has been cultivated and the U.S. state of Minnesota is the
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Vietnam 5% broken
350-360
India 5% broken
370-380
Pakistan 5% broken
375-385
Myanmar 5% broken
415-425
Cambodia 5% broken
430-440
U.S. 4% broken
480-490
Uruguay 5% broken
565-575
Argentina 5% broken
555-565
350-360
330-340
330-340
345-355
470-480
375-385
555-565
570-580
390-400
875-885
480-490
NQ
NQ
Brokens
Thailand A1 Super
315-325
285-295
350-360
270-280
NQ
370-380
NQ
Indonesia has rice stockpiles for six to seven months but may consider rice imports, depending
domestic production, Bloomberg quotes the coordinating minister for economic affairs as
saying. Indonesias main rice crop is harvested March through June and a decision regarding rice
imports is expected to be determined by June or July.
Chicago rough rice futures for Jul delivery are currently seen paused 4.5 cents per cwt (about $1
per ton) lower at $9.750 per cwt (about $215 per ton) ahead of floor trading in Chicago. The
other grains are seen trading lower: soybeans are currently seen about 0.2% lower, wheat is listed
about 0.2% lower and corn is currently noted 1.6% lower.U.S. stock index futures indicated a
lower open on Thursday coming off lows as investors eyed U.S. data and higher bond yields.
The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits rose marginally last
week, staying near a 15-year low in a sign that the labor market continues to strengthen despite
moderate economic growth. Initial claims for state unemployment benefits rose 3,000 to a
seasonally adjusted 265,000 for the week ended May 2, the Labor Department said on Thursday.
Claims for the prior week were unrevised at 262,000, which was the lowest reading since April
2000. Earlier, equity futures pointed to a sharply lower open, with Dow futures dropping 100
points. European equities tumbled in morning trade, as government bond yields continued to
spike. The yield on 10-year German Bunds soared 20 basis points to trade close to 0.8%, and is
on track for its biggest weekly jump in over a decade, according to Reuters. It most recently
traded around 0.66%.In other European news, Greece's economic nightmare continues, after
European lenders dashed any hopes of an aid-for-reform deal next Monday when the Eurogroup
of euro zone finance ministers meets. Gold is currently trading about 0.7% lower, crude oil is
seen trading about 0.9% lower, and the U.S. dollar is currently trading about 0.5% higher at
8:30am Chicago time.
In its May 7 2015 World Food Situation report, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of
the United Nations (UN) is projecting that in 2015/16 higher rice utilization will surpass higher
production and lead to lower ending stocks and a lower stocks-to-use ratio worldwide, especially
in rice exporting nations.
Rain is expected across Central and Eastern South China, the Southern Yangtze Valley, and the
Northern North China Plain this week.
Rain is expected across Bangladesh this week.
Rain showers are expected across Southern and Eastern India this week.
Rain is expected in some parts of Northern and Central Pakistan this week.
In Indonesia, rain is expected across Sumatra, Malay Peninsula, Kalimantan, southern East
Malaysia, and Sulawesi this week, which will slow rice harvesting there.
Rain showers are expected in Eastern Thailand this week.
The Oryza White Rice Index (WRI), a weighted average of global white rice export quotes,
ended the month of April at $408 per ton, down $5 per ton from a month ago and down $42 per
ton from a year ago.According to FAO, global rice production expected to reach at about 500
million tons in 2015/16, up about 1.2% from last year, mainly on expectations of a recovery in
India, Indonesia, Philippines, Sri Lanka and Thailand. Global rice trade also expected to reach at
about 42 million tons in 2015/16, up about 2% from last year due to larger import expectations
from Bangladesh, Indonesia, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Cote dIvoire and Nigeria.
Global rice ending stock is expected to decline about 8% to about 168 million tons in 2015/16.As
of April, global rice crop conditions are mixed. In India rice crop conditions is favorable for
second rice crop. In China, conditions are also favorable. Meanwhile, in Thailand conditions are
poor for the dry season rice. Harvest has begun and production is expected to be significantly
less than last year, mainly due to insufficient water for cultivation that resulted in reduced
planted area and poor yield as well as due to pest damage and cold weather. In Vietnam, overall
conditions are favorable. In the U.S., planting is underway and conditions are favorable. In
Indonesia, conditions for the wet season rice remain good due to favorable sunlight and
sufficient water availability.
In Brazil, harvest is almost complete. Even though planted area was reduced, production is
expected to be similar to last year owing to increased yields. In the Philippines, harvest has
concluded this month for the dry season rice and conditions are slightly poor due to intense heat
and insufficient water. In Argentina, harvest is almost complete and conditions are favorable.In
Asia, white rice and parboiled rice prices were mostly down slightly in April. Aside from sales
through diplomatic channels, buying interest from key importers in Asia and Africa remained
thin, while the Thai governments suspension of state auctions of stockpiled rice added to
uncertainty. In the U.S. and Brazil rice prices remain stable, while offers in South America eased
fractionally on prospects for comfortable supplies and fx movements.
Thailand
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The Thai Rice Exporters Association (TREA) has estimated Thailand's rice exports to decline
about 22-27% to about 8-8.5 million tons due to falling global rice export prices and stiff
competition with Vietnam, India and Pakistan. Separately, according to the Thai Commerce
Minister, Thailand is targeting to export about 10 million tons of rice in 2015. In the beginning
of the year, Thailand hoped to export 11 million tons of rice this year after exporting a record
10.97 million tons in 2014. However, due to stiff competition with Vietnam, India and Pakistan
as well as falling prices and demand, Thailand has been experiencing a decline in exports in the
last couple of months.
Thailand's Office of Agricultural Economics (OAE) has estimated the country's paddy rice
output for 2014-15 at about 32.6 million tons (about 21.5 million tons, basis milled), down about
11% from about 36.77 million tons (about 24.2 million tons, basis milled) last year, according to
a notice on its website. The Thai government had discouraged rice farmers from planting for offseason crop due to drought and water shortages in reservoirs. The government is also planning to
reduce acreage by about 4.44 million hectares (or about 39% of the total rice area of about 11.34
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The Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) estimates output from the 2014-15 Aman crop at
about 14 million tons, up about 1.3% from about 13 million tons last year. It estimates output
from the Aus crop at about 2.328 million tons, up about 1% from about 2.3 million tons last year.
The government is estimating the output from the 2014-15 ongoing Boro crop (January - May) at
about 19 million tons. Boro rice crop has been planted in about 4.822 million hectares this year,
according to the data from the Field Service Wing of the Department of Agricultural Extension
(DAE). Separately, the government of Bangladesh has decided to provide financial incentives of
about Tk 30.21 crore (about $3.9 million) to about 210,000 rice farmers in 48 districts to help
them increase the output from the ongoing Aus cropping season (February - August), according
to local sources.
South Korea's Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs has clearly put forth the
government's stance to exclude rice from the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) deal, according to
local sources. He told local sources that the government has decided on excluding rice from the
TPP's list of tariff concessions. Meanwhile, researchers at the Korea Rural Economic Institute
has predicted that South Korea's rice production is likely to reduce by about a one million tons or
about 24% by 2050 due to the effects of global warming, according to local sources. Separately,
The government of South Korea has decided to provide the increased direct subsidies to rice
farmers from this year instead of its initial plan of providing them from 2017, according to local
sources.
The USDA estimates Australia to export about 350,000 tons of rice in 2015-16 (March 2015 February 2016), down about 18% from an estimated 426,000 tons exported in 2014 due to an
expected increase in production. Australia 2015-16 rice imports are estimated at about 150,000
tons, unchanged from last year. The agency has estimated Australia MY 2015-16 paddy rice
production at about 764,000 tons (about 550,000, basis milled), up about 13% from an estimated
676,000 tons (about 487,000 tons, basis milled) in MY 2014-15 due to an expected increase in
yields. Meanwhile, Australian rice growers are confident that the country's paddy rice output
would reach 700,000 tons (about 504,000 tons, basis milled) in 2015 due to favorable weather
conditions, according to local sources.
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The U.S. cash market remained unchanged today as farmers remain busy planting before much
needed rain passes through the Mid-South, bringing plantings to a standstill.Analysts contend
that many sellers will continue to wait out this price slump as long as they can with many
crossing their fingers that new demand will show up at lower prices; however, buyers remain
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