Required Report - public distribution

**Date:** 6/22/2006

**GAIN Report Number:** TH6062

TH6062

**Thailand**

**Grain and Feed**

**Weekly Rice Price Update**

**2006**

**Approved by:**

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

U.S. Embassy, Bangkok

**Prepared by:**

Ponnarong Prasertsri, Agricultural Specialist

**Report Highlights:**

Export prices surged due to tighter exportable supplies.

Includes PSD Changes: No

Includes Trade Matrix: No

Unscheduled Report

Bangkok \[TH1\]

\[TH\]

**Indicative Prices (Week Ending Jun. 21):**

  ------------ -------------- ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ -------- -------
  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   490            \-     490    495    495    490    500    493      492

  WR 100 B     320            322    320    321    320    315    320    320      318

  PB 5%        300            308    306    311    306    304    305    307      304

  WR 5%        315            317    313    313    312    307    315    313      312

  WR 10%       307            312    309    311    308    303    310    309      306

  WR 15%       297            307    295    308    297    288    305    300      297

  WR 25%       275            294    272    295    275    268    300    283      278

  WR 35%       273            \-     \-     289    \-     264    \-     275      277

  A 1 SUP      215            230    218    216    220    212    213    218      215

  A 1 SPEC     213            228    216    213    218    \-     211    217      214

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

**Market Tone**

Export prices for most grades of rice surged due to tighter exportable
supplies. Most exporters are facing difficulties in sourcing rice for
their pending shipments because the Government is still holding huge
intervention stocks of around 6.8 million tons of paddy, of which 3.1
million tons were fragrant rice paddy and 3.7 million tons were white
rice paddy. Meanwhile, some foreign buyers reportedly shifted to
relatively cheaper rice from Vietnam and India. Indian parboiled rice is
currently around U.S.\$ 100/MT cheaper than Thai parboiled rice. Thai
rice exporters expected that Thai rice exports will likely drop to
around 7.0 million tons, far below the government target of 7.5 million
tons because current prices of Thai rice are too high. Iranian buyers
are reportedly expected to buy Thai white rice of around 400,000 --
500,000 tons, far below the anticipated demand of 700,000 -- 800,000
tons, as they will likely shift to buy cheaper rice from other
suppliers.

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

  ---------- ----------- ----------- ----------- ------------ ------------
  WEEK       QUANTITY    4-WK AVG    YEAR TO     YEAR AGO     YEAR TO DATE
  ENDING                             DATE                     AS % OF LAST
                                                              YEAR

             (MT)        (MT)        (TMT)       (TMT)        \%

  APR 30     105,690     88,070      1,496       1,847        -19.0

  MAY 7      111,369     96,773      1,607       1,947        -17.4

  MAY 14     100,083     105,082     1,707       2,042        -16.4

  MAY 21     121,879     109,755     1,829       2,131        -14.1

  MAY 28     70,293      100,906     1,900       2,205        -13.8

  JUN 4      172,816     116,268     2,073       2,297        -9.8

  JUN 11     106,878     117,967     2,179       2,427        -10.2

  JUN 18     107,623     114,403     2,287       2,542        -10.0
  ---------- ----------- ----------- ----------- ------------ ------------

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 Jun. 12-18, 2006
totaled 107,623 tons, up 745 tons from the previous week's total, and
down 6,779 tons from the four-week moving average of 114,403 tons.
Exports during Jan. 1 -- Jun. 18, 2006 totaled 2,287,030 tons, as
compared with 2,542,352 tons in the previous year.

According to the Department of Foreign Trade, Ministry of Commerce,
total rice exports (including fragrant rice) during Jan. 1 -- Jun 15,
2006, amounted to 3,371,107 tons, down 2 percent from 3,425,714 tons in
the previous year.

**Weekly Rice Sales**

Private registered rice export sales for the period of May 29 -- Jun. 2,
Jun. 5-9, and\
Jun. 12-16, 2006 are as follows:

  ------------------- ----------------- ----------------- -----------------
  Movement (MT)       May 29 -- Jun. 2  Jun. 5-9          Jun. 12-16

  weekly sales        60,616            120,112           44,681

  4 week sum          363,862           389,241           355,362

  4 week mov. avg.    90,966            97,310            88,841

  Total weekly sales  2,594,616         2,714,728         2,759,409
  ------------------- ----------------- ----------------- -----------------

End of Report.