RICE STOCK

• The August 1, 2004 total rice stock of 1.35 million metric tons, was 17.3 and 14.4 percent lower than its month and year ago levels, respectively. It was enough to last for 48 days.
• All sectors posted lower stock level compared to that of last month with significant drawdown of 20.6 percent  in  commercial  warehouses,  and 20.1 percent in the households. That of NFA went down by only 8.1 percent. Around 72.0 percent of NFA stock were imported rice.
• In comparison to previous year’s same period stock position, the stock levels in commercial and NFA warehouses were also lower. NFA stock was down by a hefty 40.6 percent, and commercial stock by 18.1 percent. In contrast, household stocks went up by 17.4 percent.
• As of the reporting period commercial and NFA stocks were good for 12 and 13 days supply, respectively while households had 23 days supply.

CORN STOCK

• The country’s total corn stock  was  220 thousand metric tons as of August 1, 2004. It was up by 15.4 percent from last month’s level and 35.4 percent from last year.
• Stock levels in both the households and commercial warehouses went up significantly from 7.3 to 57.3 percent compared to their month and year ago levels. This could be attributed to the reported bigger crop harvested in late July.
• Around 38.0 percent of the current corn stock are with the households and 62.0 percent are with the commercial warehouses. No stock was reported by NFA.