May 21, 2021
ARLINGTON, VA -- The USA Rice World Market Price (WMP) Subcommittee held its second meeting of 2021 yesterday, in what members and guests hope will be the last virtual gathering of the Subcommittee this year.
The full WMP Subcommittee met first to discuss supply and demand, rice stocks, and projected plantings. Subcommittee members from all six rice states reported expectations that actual plantings for 2021 will be significantly lower than those estimated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) in the March projected plantings, with a total projected difference of 15 percent less acreage, due to a range of weather issues.
Following the Subcommittee meeting, Chair Keith Glover and USA Rice staff met with teams from the USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), Economic Research Service (ERS), and World Agricultural Outlook Board (WAOB) departments. Glover provided feedback from Subcommittee members regarding NASS statistics, and reviewed the areas where members thought changes could be made.
To round out the day, the full Subcommittee once again convened to meet with staff from the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS). In reviewing the global rice situation, FAS projected record consumption in 2021/22, outpacing production for the first time, as well as a contraction of global rice stocks. FAS staff also reviewed market situations with major trading partners including Japan, Taiwan, Korea, and Colombia, and covered developments in China, India, and international food assistance.
“As always we were happy to meet with USDA to pass on input from our World Market Price Subcommittee,” said Glover. “And with parts of the world beginning to emerge from the economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, it was especially helpful to learn the status of our trading partners and the global rice market.”