Policy rice sales remain sluggish, japonica-indica rice price spread stable

After mid-October, policy-backed competitive bidding for japonica rice and indica rice reopened. However, as the volume of new grain coming onto the market continued to increase, the transaction rate in the old rice market declined compared with the earlier period. As of now, China's total policy rice transactions stand at 3.93 million tons. Total policy japonica rice transactions reached 1.60 million tons, and total policy indica rice transactions reached 2.33 million tons, including 102,000 tons of early indica rice and 2.2326 million tons of mid-to-late indica rice.

The domestic japonica-indica rice price spread was flat compared with last week. On October 30, the purchase price of 2014-crop japonica rice in Hulin, Heilongjiang, was 3,040 yuan/ton, and the purchase price of late indica rice in Changsha, Hunan, was 2,780 yuan/ton, a price spread of 260 yuan/ton between the two places. The ex-factory price of 2013-crop japonica rice in Hulin, Heilongjiang, was 4,160 yuan/ton, and the ex-factory price of late indica rice in Changsha, Hunan, was 3,940 yuan/ton, a price spread of 220 yuan/ton between the two places.

Rice prices in sales-area markets declined steadily. On October 30, the wholesale price of northeast round-grain rice in Beijing was 4,440-4,540 yuan/ton; the wholesale price of Jiangsu-produced japonica rice in Hangzhou was about 4,500 yuan/ton, down 40 yuan/ton from last week; and the wholesale price of Anhui-produced japonica rice was about 4,400 yuan/ton, down 60 yuan/ton from last week. In the Fuzhou market, the wholesale price of ordinary Jiangsu japonica rice was 4,650 yuan/ton, down 100 yuan/ton from last week.