India remains top rice exporter in 2014 with late export surge

India retained its position as the top rice exporter in 2014, edging out Thailand which appears to have toppled India based on the early data of the last quarter of 2014.

Rice exports by India and Thailand surged in late 2014 and the latest revisions for rice exports indicate that India edged out Thailand to retain the top spot, according to the first rice market report 2015 published by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

It said India shipped an unprecedented 11.3 million tonnes, slightly ahead of Thailand's 11.0 million tonnes (milled).

However, the FAO report predicts that Thailand will regain the top exporter position in 2015 as is expected to export 11.2 million tonnes compared with India's 9.3 million tonnes.

On the overall situation, it said following years of bumper harvests, rice production would like experience its first annual contraction since 2009, while global prices for the grain would remain soft.

The FAO has lowered its 2014 estimated global padi production by 3.3 million tonnes since December to 741.3 million tonnes (494.4 million tonnes milled), only 0.5 percent below the record 2013 performance.

"Thailand's rice production (paddy) declined by 2.7 percent in 2014 to 34.3 million tonnes (22.7 million tonnes milled rice), due mainly to declining secondary crop outputs affected by cuts in planted areas," Hiroyuki Konuma, FAO assistant director-general and regional representative for Asia and the Pacific said.

"However, in 2015, Thailand is expected to increase production by 2.1 per cent," he said at a media briefing.

FAO's Rice Market Monitor predicts that under normal climatic conditions, 2015 will see a modest recovery of around one percent in world padi output to 750 million tonnes.

In spite of falling international prices, many rice importing countries continue to pursue self-sufficiency in rice production policies.

Indonesia is forecast to reduce its imports by 25 per cent in 2015, the Philippines by 21 per cent and Bangladesh by 36 per cent, while exporter competition for markets is likely to intensify this year, FAO said.