The world's largest three EXporting countries are:
1.) Thailand (accounts for 26% of world exports)
2.) Vietnam (15%)
3.) The United States (11%)
*It should be noted that China and India are the top two largest producers of rice in the world..but they are also the top two consumers...both countries consume the majority of their domestically-produced rice leaving little to be traded (as exports) internationally.
The world's largest three IMporting countries are:
1.) Indonesia (14%)
2.) Bangladesh (4%)
3.) Brazil (3%)
*Between 1961 and 2002, per capita consumption of rice has increased by 40% (!)
*5-6% of the world's produced rice is available to be traded internationally
Random
Thought
Of
Brilliance
...ONLY Five to Six % of the WW rice SUPPLY is available via the global EXPORTs market ?!? Look at the DEMAND- A steady, impressive 40% increase in consumption AND this demand should only increase at a FASTER rate in the future given India and China's promising economies. Thus, given the above supply/demand fundamentals - Doesn't RICE have the classic look + feel of not only tight WW supplies moving forward but maybe even the HOLY grail...an investing thesis that has YEARS of legs because is driven by (GASP)...scarcity !
At the very least, this situation bears further watching. NO WONDER rice prices have been on fire the past year or so..check out the below graph (and NOTE the Hyper-growth 'spurt' from 3Q07 to present):
http://futures.tradingcharts.com/chart/RI/M
Data Courtesy: Wikipedia.com.
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