Rice Outlook: U.S. Import Forecasts Raised To New Records
For both 2019/20 and 2020/21, U.S. import forecasts were raised while exports were lowered, with 2020/21 imports projected record high. The domestic and residual use forecast was raised for both years.
For 2020/21, the U.S. production forecast was increased 2 percent due to a larger area estimate reported by the U.S. Department of Agriculture National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS).
On balance, these revisions resulted in a 2-million cwt (hundredweight) reduction in the 2019/20 ending stocks forecast and a 0.5-million cwt increase in the 2020/21 ending stocks forecast. In the global rice market, 2020/21 production forecasts were raised for Bolivia, South Korea, Sri Lanka, and the U.S.