News Detail…

Iftikhar Soomro made Director to Matco Rice BoDs

January 08, 2015

Daily Global Rice E-Newsletter www.ricepluss.com

January 09, 2015 Volume 5, Issue I

RECORDER REPORT

Pakistan's largest Basmati rice exporter,

Matco Rice Processing (Pvt) Limited has

appointed Iftikhar Ahmed Soomro as an

independent, non-executive Director to its

Board of Directors. Soomro brings along his

vast corporate experience of leading many

prominent private and public sector

companies of Pakistan. He has previously

served as the Chairman of APTMA and as a

director of Pakistan State Oil, Pfizer

Pakistan, Park-Davis, Wyeth Pakistan,

SITE, KESC, Sindh Fine Textile Mills and

other corporates. Soomro has also

distinguished himself in the field of public

service, previously as an elected member of

the Sindh Assembly and member of Cabinet.

Currently he is the Honorary Consul General

of the Republic of Tunisia. Commenting on

the appointment, Jawed Ghori, Chairman of

Matco Rice said: "We are extremely pleased

that Iftikhar Ahmed Soomro has joined the

board of our company, bringing with him a

unique mix of skills and experience that will

help the board to guide Matco Rice to the

next level of growth." Matco Rice is

Pakistan's largest Basmati rice exporter.

International Finance Corporate (IFC), part

of the World Bank Group, is a shareholder

of Matco Rice and invested equity in the

company for capacity-building to cater to

increasing exports, support trade, and to

establish Matco as a global corporate in the

region.-PR

Source with thanks: Business Recorder

Pakistan

Rice and pulses tech-expo

begins in Raichur

Minister for Medical Education Dr. Sharan

Prakash Patil (right) using the multi-exercise

machine put on display at the industrial

equipment expo at Gunj Kalyana Mantap in

Raichur on Friday. Photo: Santosh Sagar.A

three-day rice and pulses tech-expo, an

exhibition of industrial machinery and

equipments for rice and pulses production

industry, began at Gunj Kalyana Mantap

here on Friday.Over 30 leading equipment

and machinery makers from different parts

of India had put their products on display in

around 40 stalls.

Minister for Medical Education and Raichur

In-charge, Dr. Sharan Prakash Patil

inaugurated the event that was organised by

Raichur Millers Association (RMA) and

Tender Today Groups, Kunigal. The

minister called upon the industrialists

engaged in rice and pulses production

industry to keep on technologically

upgrading their industrial units so that cost

of production could be reduced.“Reducing

the cost of production would not only help

millers, it would also benefit farmers and

consumers as well,” the minister said.

Investors' meet

The minister said that he was making plans

to organise Investors’ Meet in Raichur for

attracting more investments in agro-based

industries in the district.“Raichur is blessed

with two rivers and resultant vast network of

irrigation canals. Paddy, cotton and pulses

are grown on vast tracts of fields across the

district. The district has a great potential for

agro-based industries thanks to the abundant

availability of raw material and water. We

are planning to hold Investors’ Meet and the

chief minister has also responded

positively,” he said.

Raichur Lok Sabha member, B.V. Naik,

Raichur Millers’ Association chairman and

former MLA A. Papareddy, Tenders Today

Group representative Srihari N. Garipur,

Tungabhadra Command Area Development

Authority chairman A. Vasanth Kumar, district

president of Raichur Chambers of Commerce

and Industries Trivikram Joshi and others were

present.

Source with thanks:

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/karnata

ka/rice-and-pulses-techexpo-begins-in-

raichur/article6772061.ece

Miller-hamali standoff hits

rice milling in delta regions

The standoff between the millers and

hamalis over payment of loading and

unloading charges at the warehouses of the

Food Corporation of India (FCI) has hit the

paddy milling in the Krishna and the

Godavari delta regions.According to sources

in Civil Supplies Department, the hamalis

refused to lift rice stocks from the lorry sent

in by the millers, demanding a hike in the

charges. This has resulted in suspension of

paddy milling in Guntur, Krishna, West and

East Godavari districts for the past 10 days.

Consequently, huge quantities of paddy are

lying at the procurement centres.

The Civil Supplies Department sought to use

the space in FCI warehouses for storage of

food grains after procurement and milling.

The department offers Rs 12.50 per quintal

towards milling charges and Rs 2.5 as

transport charges. Hamalis are demanding

an increase in the lifting charges by Rs. 1

from Rs. 2 per quintal. “When the

government is paying us Rs. 2.5 per quintal

for transporting and unloading the stock,

how can we pay Rs. 3 for unloading alone?,”

asks Ganni Prasada Raju, a miller from

Tadepalligudem.

The FCI authorities, however, have resumed

operations related to storage of food grains

at its 11 warehouses in West Godavari

district from Friday as the deadlock was

resolved following the intervention of

Collector Bhaskar Katamneni. The piquant

situation is, however, said to be continuing

in the other districts.“The strike by millers is

unlikely to cause demand-supply problems

in the market as there are sufficient rice

stocks with the government,” according to

District Supplies Officer S. Sivasankar

Reddy. In West Godavari district alone, the

government has procured 4 lakh tonnes of

paddy when compared to 12 lakh and odd

tonnes of procurement target last kharif .

The growers disposed of the rest of the

produce to millers, after retaining some for

self consumption.The millers are allowed to

sell away 75 per cent of the grains after

milling in the open market, while giving

away the remaining to the government

according to the new levy targets.

Hamalis seek hike in unloading charges to

Rs. 3, while the govt. offers Rs. 2.5 for the same

Milling suspended in Guntur, Krishna and

twin Godavari districts for the past 10 days

Source with thanks:

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/andhra-

pradesh/millerhamali-standoff-hits-rice-milling-

in-delta-regions/article6773613.ece

Vietnam clinches one

million tonnes of rice deal

in 2015 Friday, 09 January 2015 03:51

Member enterprises of the Vietnam Food

Association (VFA) have already clinched

export contracts for at least one million

tonnes of rice with delivery scheduled for

this year

The volume is 200,000 tonnes higher than

the same period last year. (Image source:

IRRI)

According to VietnamNet, most of the

volume would be delivered to customers in

2015, based on the contracts that VFA’s

member enterprises signed with importers

last year.The volume is 200,000 tonnes

higher than the same period last year.Huynh

The Nang, general director of Vietnam

Southern Food Corporation (Vinafood 2),

however, said local rice exporters might face

many more difficulties this year.The rice

demand of the Philippines, Indonesia and

Malaysia is forecast to jump, but Vietnam

would have to compete with Thailand,

which wants to reduce its huge rice

stockpiles, The Nang added.

China, a major importer of Vietnamese rice

in recent years, has signed an MoU to

purchase two million tonnes of rice from

Thailand in 2015.Concerns have also risen

among domestic rice exporters for tougher

competition from India and Pakistan as these

two nations have cut prices of their low and

medium-grade rice to compete with similar

products of Vietnam.Currently, India and

Pakistan sell five per cent broken rice at

US$385-395 per tonne and US$380-390 per

tonne respectively, compared to US$380-

390 per tonne for Vietnam’s same type.

Their 25 per cent broken rice is priced at

US$350-360 per tonne and US$335-345 per

tonne compared to US$350-360 per tonne of

Vietnam.According to VFA, Vietnam had

exported 5.96mn tons of rice from 1 January

to 18 December 2014, falling 11 per cent

against the previous year.

Up to 83 per cent was shipped to Asian and

African countries and the rest to America,

Europe and Oceania.In order to boost rice

shipments this year, Vietnam’s Ministry of

Industry and Trade suggested rice exporters

diversify markets and seek to make full use

of the opportunities from bilateral and

multilateral trade agreements, and follow

updates on importing markets.

Source with thanks: http://fareasternagriculture.com/crops/agriculture/viet

nam-clinches-one-million-tonnes-of-rice-deal-in-

2015

Yingluck urges fair

treatment from NLA

Pravit Rojanaphruk

The Nation January 10, 2015 1:00 am

Maintaining her innocence against

allegations of corruption and dereliction of

duty in the rice-pledging scheme, former

prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra urged

the National Legislative Assembly (NLA)

yesterday to be fair for the sake of national

reconciliation, saying she had already been

impeached three times and that she no

longer held any political position.

Yingluck spent an hour defending herself to

the NLA after National Anti-Corruption

Commission (NACC) member Wicha

Mahakhun accused her of dereliction of

duty. Wicha said her actions had inflicted a

Bt229-billion "loss" on the government. He

said rice millers had exploited the scheme

for their own benefits while more than 10

rice farmers had committed suicide because

of delayed payments under the programme.

In urging the NLA to be fair to her, the

former prime minister said "the country can

only move forward if there's justice", adding

that the unelected assembly should not be a

political tool of anyone.

Yingluck said she had lost her position three

times: first, when she dissolved the House of

Representatives at the end of 2013, second

when the Constitution Court impeached her,

and third through the coup last May."How

can you impeach someone who does not

have any [political] position?" Yingluck

asked the NLA yesterday, adding that the

2007 charter was also no longer in existence.

Wicha insisted that the NLA had the

authority and legitimacy to conduct the

impeachment proceedings. Impeachment

could lead to Yingluck being banned from

politics for five years.

At the beginning of his hour-long speech,

Wicha said the junta-sponsored provisional

constitution empowered the NLA to serve as

both the upper and lower houses of

Parliament, so its members could vote on the

matter.Although Wicha acknowledged in his

speech that there existed no evidence of

Yingluck's involvement in any corruption

related to the rice-pledging scheme, he said

than as prime minister and chairwoman of

the National Rice Policy Committee she

should be impeached because she had

allowed the severe losses and corruption to

continue.

He said more than 10 farmers had

committed suicide because of the failed rice-

pledging scheme. He said the NACC had

also warned the administration twice to stop

the project but the government refused because

it had been a major policy pledge to voters

by the Pheu Thai Party.

Yingluck insisted she was clean and that the

claims of damage incurred by the rice-

subsidy programme was distorted and

overblown. The former PM added that it was

the government's duty to assist poor farmers

and this was not the first such scheme in the

Kingdom, and Thailand is not the only

country to subsidise farmers.

She said that in appraising the programme,

profit or loss should not take precedence

over benefits to farmers who are the

backbone of the country. She said the

trickle-down effect on the economy,

including the resultant increase in the

spending power of farmers and tax

collected, should also be considered.The

former prime minister added that her

government had made attempts to tackle

corruption, citing the ban on 12 rice mills

from the programme on top of 276 legal

cases filed against those who had allegedly

committed irregularities.In his remarks to

the assembly, Wicha stressed that the NACC

had sought Yingluck's impeachment fairly

and honestly, adding that the ex-PM was

given all opportunities to defend

herself.However, Yingluck described the

NACC-led procedure as rushed compared

with other impeachment cases, which had

taken years. She said no NACC

subcommittee was set up and some defence

witnesses were denied a chance to be heard.

Wicha said the Yingluck administration's

mismanagement of the subsidy programme

had led to Thailand's rice exports falling by

35 per cent, bringing the country down from

the world's top rice exporter to No 3.

Yingluck argued that this had happened

because of massive dumping of rice by one

major rice-producing nation and not the

pledging scheme. Yingluck predicted that

Thailand would this year regain its position

as the world's top rice exporter, adding that

this would be due to the rice stocks stored

under the pledging programme.

After her defence arguments, Yingluck told

the media that she had done her best and felt

relieved. Wicha later told the media that no

one could make up for the loss of farmers'

lives who had committed suicide because

they were not paid by the government in

time.The NLA's inquiry panel is scheduled

to question the NACC and Yingluck next

Friday. Later, both sides will be given a

chance to make their closing arguments,

either in person or in writing. The assembly

tentatively is scheduled to vote on the matter

on January 23. Police and some military

officers were present in front of the

Parliament Building yesterday, although

only a few people showed up to offer their

support to Yingluck. A Pheu Thai source

who asked not to be named said the party

had dissuaded Yingluck's supporters from

gathering to show the public that one

woman had the guts to confront a group of

men.

Source with thanks: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/politics/Yingluck-

urges-fair-treatment-from-NLA-30251633.html

Blogger Event Reaches

Thousands of Consumers in

Turkey

Blogger blast features

U.S.-grown rice

ISTANBUL, TURKEY -- Last month, the

USA Rice Federation invited 25 key food

bloggers and health specialists to a New

Year cooking event here featuring celebrity

chef, Fikret Ozdemir. During the half day

event, attendees worked alongside Chef

Ozdemir, cooking healthy and delicious

dishes featuring U.S. rice and wild rice.The

bloggers took photos and video of their

hands-on cooking experience that were used

to generate tweets and Facebook posts,

ramping up interest in U.S. rice and

providing an opportunity to have a direct

conversation with Turkish consumers.

"By exposing the food bloggers to the

versatility, unique flavor, and heatlth

benefits of U.S. rice, they then encourage

their followers to use more U.S. rice and

wild rice in their recipes," said Jim Guinn,

USA Rice vice president of international

promotion. "These social media platforms

have great influence on consumers." The

U.S. is the number one rice exporter to

Turkey with 40 percent market share.

However, wild rice is a new product for

Turkish consumers and promotional

activities, such as the food blogger event,

are specifically designed to introduce wild

and white rice dishes to the media and

consumers.

Contact: Eszter Somogyi, 011-49-40-4503-

8667

Source with thanks: USA Rice Federation

Rice Investors Laud FG’s

Import Quota Policy

EMEKA UMEJEI

— Jan 9, 2015

The Nigerian Rice Investors’ Group has

lauded the import quota allocation given to

rice investors in the country as a step in the

right direction.The group, which addressed

the press in Abuja, yesterday, said that the

rice import quota policy of the federal

government was geared towards self-

sufficiency in rice production in the

country.It said this was the first time import

quota was being allocated to the right people

with verifiable investments in rice

production.

The former minister of justice and Attorney

General of the Federation, and secretary,

Rice Processors Association of Nigeria

(RIPAN), Michael Aondoakaa, emphasised

that prior to the emergence of President

Goodluck Jonathan’s administration nobody

had ever wondered who gets what

quota.“The truth is that many have had

witnessed the old system where some highly

connected people influenced the rice quota

allocation. This administration made sure it

went to rice farmers with visible

investments,” said Aondoakaa.

The president of the Nigerian Rice Investors

Group and managing director of Elephant

Group, Tunde Owoeye, said that the rice

policy of the present administration is

visible for all to see.“If you travel through

Zamfara, Niger, Benue, Sokoto and many

other states in the country, you will see vast

plantations of rice in the last two year. We

have also seen some of our members who

were traders make huge investments in local

rice production. We have seen increase in

employment and value creation in the rice

sector, said Owoeye.He further stated that

the federal government has provided rice

investors with improved seedling and that is

the reason rice production is getting better.

On his part, the president of Rice Millers,

Importers and Distributors’ Association of

Nigeria, Abubakar Mohammed, noted that

five years ago, there was only one

processing mill in Nigeria but the number

grew to 24 by 2014. He said that before

President Goodluck Jonathan’s

administration, rice paddy produced from

Nigeria was one of the worst in the world,

noting that this has changed.“We process

800,000 tonnes of paddy rice annually and

the government is putting measures in place

to produce additional 360000 tonne. All

these happened with the help of President

Goodluck Jonathan and the minister of

agriculture and rural development, Dr

Akinwunmi Adesina,” said Abubakar.

Source with

thanks:http://leadership.ng/business/400662/rice

-investors-laud-fgs-import-quota-policy

Ag Coalition Seeks End to

Cuba Embargo

DANIEL LOOKER01/08/2015 @

3:28pmBusiness Editor

Major U.S. farm groups, Cargill, and

CoBank were among nearly 30

organizations that launched the

U.S. Agriculture Coalition for

Cuba in Washington

Thursday.The new group drew

support from Agriculture

Secretary Tom Vilsack, U.S. Senators Jerry

Moran (R-KS) and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN)

and members of Congress who support

liberalizing trade and travel to the island

nation of 11 million people 90 miles from

Florida.The Obama Administration

announced in December that it intends

restore diplomatic relations with Cuba and

will ease some Treasury Department

restrictions on the sale of agriculture

commodities and medicine, a loophole in the

trade embargo which Congress approved in

2000.

But businesses and commodity groups still

can’t compete as well with complicated

cash-only rules that Congress needs to

change, the group said Thursday.“We can’t

offer any credit and our competitors can,”

said Betsy Ward, CEO of USA Rice

Federation.Vilsack said that Cuba imports

about 80% of its food and is a $1.7 billion

market.Yet, according to Grant Kodavy,

who heads Cargill’s sales in the Americas,

the U.S. ships very little grain to Cuba

despite some early successes after the easing

of restrictions on food sales in 2000. While

the U.S. supplies Mexico with 95% of its

corn, in Cuba, “the United States does not

cmpete on an even footing.

”Members of Congress, including

Representative Kevin Cramer (R-ND) said

that easing the trade embargo further won’t

be easy and may have to be done in

incremental steps. “We can do it with a short

leash,” he said.The American Farm Bureau

Federation, the American Soybean

Association and the National Corn Growers

Association are among the groups launching

the coalition.

“It’s time we have a chance to better

compete for Cuba’s business,” said NCGA

president Chip Bowling in a statement.

“NCGA has long supported normalized

trade relations with Cuba, as part of our

efforts to expand markets for U.S. corn and

feed the world. We are proud to join this

coalition. We will work closely with our

fellow coalition members to advance a trade

relationship with Cuba that is efficient,

globally competitive, and benefits both

nations.”"Like any new and developing

market, Cuba represents a great opportunity

for soybean farmers in the U.S.," said ASA

president, Wade Cowan. "We are proud to

be part of the USACC because expanding

our relationships with markets like Cuba

generates concrete value for American

farmers by increasing demand not only for

soybeans, but also for the livestock and meat

products that make up our largest customer

base.”

Source with

thanks:http://www.agriculture.com/news/policy/

ag-coalition-seeks-end-to-cuba-embargo_4-

ar46939?utm_source=USA+Rice+Daily%2C+Ja

nuary+9%2C+2015&utm_campaign=Friday%2

C+December+13%2C+2013&utm_medium=em

ail

Vietnam cuts rice export floor

price to $360 per tonne -

Food Association

HANOI Fri Jan 9, 2015 2:20pm IST

Jan 9 (Reuters) - Vietnam has lowered its

floor price for exports of 25 percent broken

rice by 5.3 percent to $360 a tonne amid thin

demand for the commodity in the world's

second-largest exporter.The floor, set by the

Vietnam Food Association, will come into

effect on Jan. 12, according to a statement

from the association to traders seen by

Reuters on Friday.The previous floor for the

grade was set at $380 a tonne in late

November.

The agriculture ministry said last month that

Vietnam's rice exports in 2014 were

expected to have dipped slightly to an

estimated 6.53 million tonnes, putting the

Southeast Asian country far behind top

exporters Thailand and India. (Reporting by

Ho Binh Minh and Mai Nguyen; Editing by

Alan Raybould)

Source with

thanks:http://in.reuters.com/article/2015/01/09/v

ietnam-rice-idINL3N0UO36X20150109

Bulog revives role as

buffer stock agency, gets

new

boss

Khoirul Amin, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta |

Business | Fri, January 09 2015, 8:23 AM

Business News

to its old function as a buffer stock agency

for the country’s main commodities, which

was removed under the reform program

mandated by the International Monetary

Fund (IMF) in late 1998.As part of the

change, the government has recently

appointed a senior banker Lenny Sugihat as

Bulog’s new president director to replace

Sutarto Alimoeso.“Under the new

management, Bulog will not only become a

buyer for local farmers’ products but also a

price stabilizer of main commodities,” said

State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) Minister

Rini Soemarno following the appointment of

the new president.Lenny, who has

previously worked at state-owned lender

Bank Rakyat Indonesia (BRI) for over 30

years, obtained Master of Business

Administration (MBA) from University of

Houston, Texas, US in 1993.

The 58-year-old woman held a position as

credit risk management director at BRI as

her latest position prior being appointed

Bulog CEO.Rini said that under the

leadership of Lenny, the government would

extend the number of foodstuffs that Bulog

had to oversee, from five to seven.Bulog

would have obligation to maintain supply

and stabilize prices of rice, corns, soybeans,

sugar, onions, chili and beef.

Lenny, who will start assuming office on

Jan. 2, commended that she would first

determine scale of priority under her

leadership and carry out efficiency programs

in a bid to guarantee supply of main

commodities to the public.The three

commodities which we will likely prioritize

are rice, soybeans and onions,” she

said.Bulog had to make sure that it would

buy the seven food commodities from local

farmers at good prices, so the farmers could

earn decent income, Rini said.In addition,

Bulog had to be allowed to import the

commodities should the move was needed to

maintain the commodities’ prices in local

market, she went on.

To support the firm in carrying all of the

tasks, SOEs Ministry would propose the

President to add the number of Bulog’s

directors to a maximum of seven people

from the current five people, she said,

adding that it would require a revision of a

presidential regulation.Bulog, which has

total assets of Rp 25.9 trillion (US$2.05

billion) in 2013, was initially established in

1967 as a buffer stock agency, whose main

task is to stabilize prices of main

commodities such as rice, sugar and

soybean. It then started becoming a state-

owned enterprise, just like today, in

2003.While the state enterprise has been

since its inception tasked to stabilize certain

commodities’ prices, its current role seems

less significant, with prices of commodities

like onions and chili sometimes peaking up

without control.

In 1995, Bulog was tasked to stabilize prices

and maintain supply of rice, sugar, wheat

flour, soybeans and other foodstuffs.The

role was, however, narrowed down in 1998

under of the economic reforms mandated by

the IMF as part of the agency’s bailout

program to help Indonesia cope with the

financial crisis.“Under the current

government, we want to make sure that

Bulog can contribute in both helping farmers

earn decent income and stabilizing

foodstuffs’ prices,” Rini said. As of

December last year, Bulog absorbed 2.5

million tons of local rice or 84 percent of its

total target of 3 million tons in 2014.For this

year alone, Bulog has previously stated that

it targeted to absorb 3.2 million tons of rice

produced by local farmers as rice production

is forecast to surge.

Source with

thanks:http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/201

5/01/09/bulog-revives-role-buffer-stock-agency-

gets-new-boss.html

Incentive Boost for Rice

Millers By Express News Service

Published: 09th January 2015 06:03 AM

Last Updated: 09th January 2015 06:03 AM

BHUBANESWAR: The State Government

has announced incentives to encourage rice

millers in paddy procurement and export of

surplus rice.While the Government

exempted two per cent Central Sales Tax

(CST) on inter-State trade of rice, the millers

can reimburse two per cent market fee paid

to regulated market committees on

equivalent paddy traded outside the State.

According to rice millers, the waiver of CST

will boost the trade of surplus rice in a

transparent manner.The State Government

has made a provision of `one crore for

reimbursement of market fee to the millers.

The Food Supplies and Consumer Welfare

Department has requested district Collectors to

ensure that levy rice due from millers is

collected before they dispose of any stock in the

open market. The millers are required to deliver

25 per cent of levy rice to the Food Corporation

of India out of the paddy procured by them from

mandis or directly from farmers.With the

exemption of CST and market fee, the Odisha

traders will be able to compete with traders of

other States. Odisha being a rice surplus State,

millers can sell the surplus rice to registered

dealers through fair means, official sources said.

Neighbouring States like West Bengal,

Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Bihar have

already allowed free trade of rice.The State

was at a disadvantage due to the prevalent

tax structure. As surplus rice could not be

moved out of the State, Odisha was facing

acute shortage of storage space.For paddy

procurement under levy route, the millers

have to pay the entire cost. The

Government, however, debarred defaulting

rice millers from taking part in the paddy

procurement process.

As per procurement guidelines for Kharif

Marketing Season (KMS) 2014-15, the

millers can participate in procurement

process only if they have delivered 100 per

cent custom milled rice for the paddy taken

by them during 2013-14.In order to

implement the decisions, the Government

has decided to have a facility to store paddy

on temporary basis. It has decided to store

10 lakh tonne of paddy during KMS 2014-

15 in CAP (cover and plinth) storage

locations under the open sky.

Source with

thanks:http://www.newindianexpress.com/states/o

disha/Incentive-Boost-for-Rice-

Millers/2015/01/09/article2610950.ece

CME Group/Closing

Rough Rice Futures

CME Group (Prelim): Closing Rough Rice

Futures for January 9

Month Price Net Change

January 2015 $11.325 + $0.030

March 2015 $11.545 + $0.020

May 2015 $11.7655 + $0.010

July 2015 $11.990 + $0.010

September 2015 $11.565 + $0.010

November 2015 $11.440 + $0.010

January 2016 $11.670 + $0.005

Source with thanks:USA Rice Federation