One Commerce Department official expressed in an interview that China’s self-sufficiency in rice is over 98%. Rations including rice will be in abundant supply. The price rise at home and abroad led to the import rice’s growth. However, China’s rice export amount account for about 6% in global trade and net imports account for only 5%. That makes global food price hard to grow.
The latest customs data shows that the amount of import rice in 2012 is 2,310,000.6 tons, representing a 310 percent increase over 2011. But the amount of export gets 1.7 of domestic production.
This official says that last year the rice was short of supply and the import amount increased. The difference in rice at home and abroad makes enterprises willing to import rice. The increasing rice, including broken rice and ordinary rice is mainly used to manufacture rice flour, convenience food and alcohol instead of rations.
According to the data the official quoted from United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, rice prices have kept in a low level since international financial crisis in 2008 and it is chances for Chinese enterprises to expand their exports. “Expanding rice import contributes to stabilizing global rice prices and global rice supply, and China’s import amount will decline when global rice price grows. ”,he says.
Written by Nicolas Yang
