Voluntary Report - public distribution

**Date:** 2/10/2004

**GAIN Report Number:** TH4020

TH4020

**Thailand**

**Grain and Feed**

**Weekly Rice Price Update**

**2004**

**Approved by:**

![](media/image1.wmf)Rodrick McSherry, Agricultural Counselor

U.S. Embassy, Bangkok

**Prepared by:**

Ponnarong Prasertsri, Agricultural Specialist

**Report Highlights:**

Export prices remained unchanged, except prices for fragrant rice which
continued to decline.

Includes PSD Changes: No

Includes Trade Matrix: No

Unscheduled Report

Bangkok \[TH1\]

\[TH\]

**Indicative Price (Week Ending Feb 9):**

  ------------ -------------- ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ -------- ------
  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   495            475    581    507    550    500    500    517      526

  WR 100 B     216            220    222    221    218    216    215    218      218

  PB 5%        208            212    218    214    210    215    210    212      212

  WR 5%        208            210    213    216    213    209    210    211      211

  WR 10%       205            206    208    213    210    206    205    208      206

  WR 15%       203            202    203    208    206    202    200    203      203

  WR 25%       198            197    200    204    198    196    195    198      198

  WR 35%       193            192    198    201    195    193    190    195      194

  A 1 SUP      182            183    184    185    183    181    180    183      182

  A 1 SPEC     180            181    183    182    181    \-     179    181      181

                                                                                 

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

**Market Tone**

Export prices for most grades of rice remained unchanged, except prices
for fragrant rice. Trade sources expected the downward trend on prices,
as local traders will gradually released their stocks when Vietnamese
rice comes out more onto the market by the end of this month. As for
fragrant rice, export prices continued to decline, due to greater
available supply from both traders' stock release and the harvest of new
crops in the Central Plain.

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

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

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

  DEC 28       150,601        114,259        5,205         5,789

  DEC 31       91,115         \-             5,299         5,792

  JAN 4        6,950          \-             7             10

  JAN 11       80,970         \-             88            83

  JAN 18       119,650        \-             208           178

  JAN 25       72,837         \-             280           294

  FEB 1        99,666         93,281         380           365

  FEB 8        111,643        100,949        492           446
  ------------ -------------- -------------- ------------- ---------------

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. 2-8, 2004 totaled
111,643 tons, up 11,977 tons from the previous week's total and up
10,694 tons from the four-week moving average of 100,949 tons. Exports
during Jan. 1 -- Feb. 8, 2004 totaled 491,718 tons, compared with
446-109 tons during the same period in 2003.

Total rice exports (including fragrant rice) in January 2004 totaled
548,742 tons, down 4.2 percent from the same period in the previous
year. Fragrant rice exports, which declined by about 18 percent to
168,669 tons, accounted for the bulk of decline, due mainly to a tight
supply situation. However, fragrant rice exports to the U.S. increased
significantly to 23,437 tons, as compared to 1,022 tons in the same
period in the previous year. Also, exports to China increased slightly
to 35,482 tons. Meanwhile, exports to Senegal, Thailand's 2003 largest
fragrant rice importer, declined sharply to 14,217 tons, as compared to
25,995 tons. As for non-fragrant rice, exports increased by 1.3 percent.

**Weekly Rice Sales**

Private registered rice export sales for the period of Jan 19-23, Jan.
26 -- 30, and Feb. 2-6, 2004 are as follows:

  -------------------- ---------------- ---------------- ----------------
  Movement (MT)        Jan. 19-23       Jan. 26-30       Feb. 2-6

                                                         

  weekly sales         63,984           190,267          176,511

  4 week sum           \-               503,730          542,422

  4 week mov. avg.     \-               125,933          135,006

  Total weekly sales   313,463          503,730          680,241
  -------------------- ---------------- ---------------- ----------------

End of Report.