Rice Market Faces Volatility

2026-04-02 15:37 By Luisa Carvalho 1 min. read

Rice futures have fluctuated around $11 per hundredweight, as the market contends with significant volatility driven by geopolitical conflicts, rising energy costs, and higher logistics expenses impacting supply and demand.

Prices, however, remain well below the $19 per hundredweight peak in May 2024, amid ample supplies and weak demand from major buyers such as African countries.

India holds massive stockpiles, while Thailand and Vietnam are awaiting the arrival of their new harvests, adding to the global supply balance.

In the meantime, official data from the Philippines showed rice stockpiles expanded in March compared with a year earlier, driven by the recovery in government-held reserves and steady increases in household holdings.

Meanwhile, the USDA expects a reduction in rice acreage in the United States this year, including a sharp decline in Arkansas, the country’s top rice-producing state.



News Stream
Rice Market Faces Volatility
Rice futures have fluctuated around $11 per hundredweight, as the market contends with significant volatility driven by geopolitical conflicts, rising energy costs, and higher logistics expenses impacting supply and demand. Prices, however, remain well below the $19 per hundredweight peak in May 2024, amid ample supplies and weak demand from major buyers such as African countries. India holds massive stockpiles, while Thailand and Vietnam are awaiting the arrival of their new harvests, adding to the global supply balance. In the meantime, official data from the Philippines showed rice stockpiles expanded in March compared with a year earlier, driven by the recovery in government-held reserves and steady increases in household holdings. Meanwhile, the USDA expects a reduction in rice acreage in the United States this year, including a sharp decline in Arkansas, the country’s top rice-producing state.
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