Rice Production In Korea Is Going Down Nov. 29, 2016

Highlights

On November 15, 2016, Statistics Korea (KOSTAT) released its revised 2016 rice production estimate to 4.197 million metric tons (MMT), slightly down from 4.2 MMT, the initial rice production estimate surveyed for early September 2016. This represents 3.0 percent lower output than last year's record crop, reflecting a decline in rice area. Lowered production has also resulted in a 41 percent stocks-to-use ratio in MY 2016/17, the highest in several years.

General Information

Production

On November 15, 2016, Statistics Korea (KOSTAT) released its revised 2016 rice production estimate of 4,196,691 metric tons, representing a minor decrease from the recent update of PSD (KS1638) due to continued favorable weather conditions through harvest completion combined with slightly lower planted area and yield.

Yield

Favorable weather through harvest completion supported rice yield at 5,389 Kg per hectare. Yields were higher than average, but down 0.5 percent from a record yield last year.

Stocks

MY 2016/17 ending stocks (through the end of October 2017) are forecast to increase to 1.8 million tons, representing 41 percent of anticipated consumption. Stocks continue to increase as rice production in the past four years has been greater than demand, which was a result of a continued decline in per capita consumption. MY 2015/16 stocks (at the end of October 2016) are estimated at about 1.7 million tons, or 39 percent of total domestic consumption.