Voluntary Report - public distribution

**Date:** 3/7/2006

**GAIN Report Number:** TH6025

TH6025

**Thailand**

**Grain and Feed**

**Weekly Rice Price Update**

**2006**

**Approved by:**

Russ Nicely, Agricultural ![](media/image1.wmf)Attache

U.S. Embassy, Bangkok

**Prepared by:**

Ponnarong Prasertsri, Agricultural Specialist

**Report Highlights:**

Export prices were higher due to active foreign demand and upward
pressure on domestic prices.

Includes PSD Changes: No

Includes Trade Matrix: No

Unscheduled Report

Bangkok \[TH1\]

\[TH\]

**Indicative Prices (Week Ending Mar. 6):**

  ------------ -------------- ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ -------- -------
  Thailand:                                                                      
  Export (FOB)                                                                   
  Prices for                                                                     
  various                                                                        
  grades of                                                                      
  rice                                                                           
  (USD/M.T.)                                                                     

               Exporter                                                 Period   
               Observations                                             Avg.     

               #1             #2     #3     #4     #5     #6     #7     CUR.     PRV.

  F WR 100 B   465            435    460    455    460    440    \-     453      447

  WR 100 B     310            310    312    315    305    310    303    309      307

  PB 5%        292            295    302    303    296    298    300    298      296

  WR 5%        305            305    307    310    300    303    298    304      301

  WR 10%       298            297    304    304    297    300    293    299      297

  WR 15%       290            292    291    302    294    286    288    292      289

  WR 25%       272            272    275    289    276    267    283    276      274

  WR 35%       269            \-     \-     286    274    265    280    275      272

  A 1 SUP      218            218    216    222    218    212    214    217      217

  A 1 SPEC     216            216    214    219    216    \-     212    216      216

  Source:                                                                        
  Average                                                                        
  actual                                                                         
  prices                                                                         
  received                                                                       
  from                                                                           
  exporters                                                                      
  ------------ -------------- ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ -------- -------

**Market Tone**

Export prices for all grades of rice were higher in response to active
demand for white rice and fragrant rice from Asian countries. Trade
sources reported that Iran and Iraq buyers were aggressively sourcing
Thai premium white rice, as they could not buy from Vietnam. Also, Thai
fragrant rice exports to China are reportedly strong. However,
exportable supplies of white rice and fragrant are tight because the
Government still holds huge stocks of MY 2004/05 and MY 2005/06 crop. As
of the end of the MY 2005/06 main crop intervention program on Feb. 28,
2006, the Government had bought a record 5.2 million tons of paddy, of
which 2.6 million tons were fragrant rice and 2.5 million tons were
white rice. In addition, the Government will begin the second crop
intervention program, running Mar. 16, 2006 until Jul. 31, 2006. Second
crop intervention prices are the same as those of the main crop, which
are higher than the previous year's levels by 400 baht/MT (roughly US\$
10/MT) for all grades of rice, as shown in the table below. Moreover,
fluctuation of the Thai baht is still a major concern among Thai
exporters. The current quotations are based on 38.6 baht/US\$, as
compared to around 39.1 baht/US\$ in the previous week.

![](media/image2.wmf){width="3.78125in" height="2.2215277777777778in"}

The following are the reported rice exports (as is basis)**:**

  ------------ -------------- -------------- ------------- ---------------
  WEEK ENDING  QUANTITY       4-WK AVG       YEAR TO DATE  YEAR AGO

               (MT)           (MT)           (TMT)         (TMT)

  JAN 15       105,420        \-             175           275

  JAN 22       82,797         \-             258           408

  JAN 29       106,161        90,955         364           545

  FEB 5        66,774         90,288         431           681

  FEB 12       120,706        94,109         551           778

  FEB 19       86,753         95,098         638           893

  FEB 26       99,974         93,552         738           977

  MAR 5        89,876         99,327         828           1049
  ------------ -------------- -------------- ------------- ---------------

Note on data: Export figures since March 22, 2002, do not include
fragrant rice. The authority to report fragrant rice exports was moved
from the Thai Board of Trade to the Ministry of Commerce's Office of
Commodity Standards, which does not release official fragrant rice
export data. FAS/BKK will report only official export numbers from the
Board of Trade for non-fragrant and from the Office of Commodity
Standards for fragrant rice when available, but the reader should bear
in mind the difference between the data.

Unofficial exports (excluding fragrant rice) for Feb. 27 -- Mar. 5
totaled 89,876 tons, down 10,099 tons from the previous week's total,
and down 9,452 tons from the four-week moving average of 99,327 tons.
Exports during Jan. 1 -- Mar. 5, 2006 totaled 827,903 tons, as compared
with 1,049,238 tons in the previous year.

According to the Department of Foreign Trade, Ministry of Commerce,
total rice exports (including fragrant rice) during Jan. 1 -- Feb. 22,
2006, amounted to 975,911 tons, down 21 percent from 1,228,981 tons in
the previous year.

**Weekly Rice Sales**

Private registered rice export sales for the period of Feb. 13-17, Feb.
20-24, and Feb. 27 -- Mar. 3, 2006 are as follows:

  ------------------- ----------------- ----------------- -----------------
  Movement (MT)       Feb. 13-17        Feb. 20-24        Feb. 27 -- Mar. 3

  weekly sales        105,273           149,627           64,614

  4 week sum          445,975           443,768           453,531

  4 week mov. avg.    111,494           110,942           113,383

  Total weekly sales  759,703           909,330           974,244
  ------------------- ----------------- ----------------- -----------------

End of Report.