International Rice Market – The Global Trade of Rice

Rice belongs to the cereal grain family and is a staple food for half of the world’s population. Every year 700 million tons of rice are produced. Even though most of the produced rice is consumed by the countries where they are harvested. But the growing demand for rice in some areas of the world is fueling the global rice trade.

Asia is the largest producer and consumer of rice. From Japan in the East to Pakistan in the West, Asia accounts for almost 90% of the global rice production. Taking into account that Asia is the net rice exporter in the world, their global share of rice consumption is slightly less, roughly around 87%. Asides from Asia, the increasing popularity and consumption of rice continues to grow. Countries like Africa, where rice consumption has been surpassed by the production, feed the international rice import.

Rice Imports Based on Countries:

The total international rice imports in 2018 totaled at an estimated value of US$24.7 billion. The overall rice imports based on the buyer countries witnessed the progress of 4.8% from 2017 to 2018. Among continents, Asia remains on the top position with the highest dollar worth of imports in 2018, contributing the 47.2% of the global total. African countries got the second position with a 25.5% contribution, followed by European nations having 12.9% of rice imports.

Based on countries, China is the biggest importer of rice with $1.21 billion worth of imports. Iran and Saudi Arabia, both comes second with 1.2 billion of rice imports. Indonesia has the third position, and its rice imports accounted for $1 billion.

International Rice Market:

Unlike wheat and maize, rice tends to be consumed where it is produced. As a result, it does not enter the global trade system. Yet the volume of the global rice trade is witnessing a steady increase. The trade actors involve a very small number of exporters who supply to satisfy the demands of a large number of importing countries. The popularity of rice is the main reason behind the expected 2% CAGR growth in the industry. The amplified demand for rice is attributed to the growing population, especially in Asian countries where rice is considered a staple food.

With the significant concentration of rice exports coming from a few handfuls of countries, the global rice market is susceptible to change. Whereas, in contrast to exports, rice import is heavily dispersed across nations.

Future Trends:

A large number of countries are investing in producing and exporting more rice, like Argentina, Brazil, etc. Increased rice export will help buffer the rice trade against instability. However, global prices will remain unstable due to the change in export policies or production shocks. Climate change can also be a factor influencing the fluctuation of prices, as it can affect rice production. The increased rate of rice export will help the poor rice exporting countries and will promote food security.

If you are a supplier and looking for genuine rice buyers from all around the world then visit world’s fastest growing B2B portal Tradewheel.com.