The refrain continues—a quiet market with little change. This isn’t a bad thing considering the convulsions the greater economy has experienced in recent weeks. While U.S. rice farmers have taken direct fire resulting from fertilizer and fuel costs, the market has somehow dodged much of the battle, with prices—albeit high—holding steady. The milled market remains quiet, focused solely on domestic foodservice customers, as milled exports are a distant hope given price disparities from other origins. Haiti, the primary milled customer, is in such disarray, it is difficult to bank any business in the short term.

Paddy exports are a different story though, as U.S. long grain remains competitive in this arena. Brazil has come on strong since Mexico and other Central American customers have reduced or removed import duties to fight food inflation, gobbling up nearly 400,000 metric tons of business in the last four months. In the first quarter, Mexico imported roughly 300,000 metric tons of rice, with the U.S. accounting for 225,000 metric tons, or about 75%. This is significantly lower than the same time last year, largely because U.S. prices have increased approximately 13% over the same time period.

On the ground, paddy prices remain firm on account of short supply. These supply driven markets, while favorable to farmers in the short term, often have a whipsaw effect when increased supply returns, as the only way to gain customers back is with price drops. We still have a long crop year to discover before we can make any educated guesses on crop size next year, but the lack of demand on the milled market doesn’t exactly balance with the price of product in the paddy market. Texas is still holding firm at $17/cwt, with Louisiana just below at $16.67/cwt. Mississippi, Arkansas, and Missouri are all $16.75/17.50, similar to last week.

In Asia, prices softened quite significantly in Thailand, dropping back down to the $430 pmt range, down nearly $10 pmt from last week. This would make sense given the currency valuation has been in flux with the Baht falling to 34.82 baht/$1.00, which is its weakest point since 2017. Thai prices have been outpacing Viet prices and Indian prices for weeks now. It would appear the higher prices were a reaction to Iraq gobbling up so much supply from this one origin—the market has now adjusted to that relationship, and prices are settling down a bit. It is also being reported that port congestion is easing, help grease the wheels to additional exports as well. Viet prices are down near $420 pmt, and India remains at $350 pmt.

The weekly USDA Export Sales report shows net sales of 20,100 metric tons, which is 74% from the previous week and 41% from the prior 4-week average. Increases primarily for Mexico (9,900 MT), Saudi Arabia (5,600 MT), Japan (2,100 MT), Canada (1,700 MT), and El Salvador. Exports of 52,700 MT were down 49% from the previous week and 3% from the prior 4-week average. The destinations were primarily to Haiti (15,200 MT), Japan (12,200 MT), Guatemala (10,000 MT), El Salvador (8,900 MT), and Canada (2,500 MT).

In the futures market, Average Daily Volume was down 18% to 1,126, and Open Interest was down 5.65% to 9,202.

President Biden Calls for Gas Tax Holiday

On Wednesday, President Biden called on Congress to suspend the federal gas tax through November to help alleviate high fuel costs. The current federal gas tax is 18 cents per gallon. The President also called on state and local governments to provide additional relief to households by implementing gas and sales tax holidays.

Congress Continues FY2023 Appropriations Work

This week, the Senate held a hearing to discuss the budget request for the US Trade Representative (USTR). During the hearing senators questioned Ambassador Katherine Tai on the fertilizer shortage. The Ambassador noted the USTR’s limitations on acting in this space but assured senators the USTR was working with the Department of Agriculture to mitigate the fertilizer shortage.

In the House, the full Appropriations Committee marked up the Agriculture Appropriations bill on Thursday. It was voted out of committee on a 31-26 vote and will now move to the House floor for consideration by the full chamber. In addition, report language to accompany the Agriculture Appropriations bill was also released this week. It can be found here.

Congress Continues 2023 Farm Bill Preparation

Last Friday, Senate Agriculture Committee Chair Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) and Ranking Member John Boozman (R-AR) traveled to Jonesboro, Arkansas to solicit industry input as it prepares the 2023 Farm Bill. Rice farmer Jennifer James discussed how rice has not seen price increases to offset rising input costs and called for the reference prices in the Price Loss Coverage Program to be reconsidered to protect domestic rice production.

In the House, the Agriculture Committee announced a Farm Bill listening session scheduled to take place July 7^th, in Fresno, California. The Committee will hold an additional listening session on Saturday, June 25^th in Coolidge, Arizona.

House Agriculture Committee Sees Membership Changes

On Friday, House Agriculture Committee Chairman David Scott (D-GA) announced Rep. Sean Maloney (D-NY) as the new Chair of the Subcommittee on Commodity Exchanges, Energy, and Credit. He succeeds Rep. Antonio Delgado (D-NY) who retired to become New York’s lieutenant governor. In addition, Ranking Member Glenn Thompson (R-PA) welcomed Rep. Mayra Flores (R-TX) to the House Agriculture Committee. She was sworn into Congress on Tuesday after being elected to fill the seat held by Democrat Filemon Vela, who resigned from office in March. Rep. Flores won the special election in the 34^th Congressional District, which has traditionally been a Democratic stronghold.

Lawmakers File Amicus Brief in WOTUS Case

Last Friday, 165 current and former Democratic members of Congress filed an amicus brief in the Supreme Court case, Sackett v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which centers on the definition of the scope of the Clean Water Act in defining Waters of the United States (WOTUS). The brief expresses support for the EPA and its broadened interpretation of navigable waters. The Supreme Court is set to hear the case this fall. The amicus brief can be found here.