Crop output in Bangladesh better than expected: FAO

Bangladesh and the Philippines were among the Asian countries that increased their rice exports substantially this year, the FAO said.

Global rice paddy production is expected to hit 622 million tons this year, up by 2.6 percent from 2004, with better than expected crops in Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia and Thailand, it said.

"World paddy production would be 2.6 per cent or 16 million tons higher than in 2004," said the FAO in its latest Rice Market Monitor.

The FAO has also forecast that global rice trade will be 27.6 million tons in 2005, up by one million ton from last year.

"The global export expansion was in spite of a retrenchment in Thailand -- due to reduced availabilities and government intervention to sustain prices -- with many other leading exporters stepping up their shipments and more than compensating for Thailand's shortfall."

Thailand has been the world's leading rice exporter for decades, followed by the US and Vietnam.

"In 2006 rice prices may fall by five percent on average based on current supply/demand prospect," predicted the FAO monitor.