In April, world rice prices fell by another 2.5%, but appear to have bottomed out, even showing a slight recovery at the end of the month. However, in early May, global prices were at their lowest level since September 2022. Indian prices have seen significant declines, while in Thailand the decline has been more moderate. In contrast, prices in Vietnam and Pakistan showed some firmness thanks to a rebound in import demand from Southeast Asia and the Middle East, respectively. In the United States, prices remained stable, while in Mercosur prices fell sharply by another 10% due to the new and larger harvests. Global demand is starting to reactivate, stimulated by export supply that will remain in surplus well into 2025, weighing on world prices. The outlook for world trade in 2025 indicates a further increase, exceeding 60 Mt against 59.7 Mt in 2024. With the end of export ban, India is expected to reach a new all-time high of 24 Mt, or 40% of global rice trade.
In April, the OSIRIZ/InfoArroz index (IPO) fell by 5.1 points to 194.4 points (base 100=January 2000) from 199.5 points in March. At the beginning of May, the IPO index was tending to firm up to 197 points.