RICE STOCK

• The August 1, 2006 total rice stock inventory stood at 1.75 million metric tons, lower than previous month’s level by 11.0 percent, but 19.8 percent higher compared to  last year’s record.
• Compared to their month ago levels, all sectors experienced stock drawdowns from 0.6 percent in NFA to 18.8 percent in the households.
• Compared to 2005 levels, this year’s August 1 holdings of all sectors were higher, with NFA reporting a substantial expansion of 37.0 percent. Around 96 percent of NFA stocks are imported rice.
• As of the reporting period, rice stock in commercial warehouses was good for 12 days supply, while those in households and NFA depositories were good for 23 days each. The total stock was enough for 58 days supply.

CORN STOCK

• The August 1, 2006 corn stock inventory of 125 thousand tons was 2.9 percent higher than last month’s level, but 58.9 percent lower than last year’s record.
• Households’ current corn holdings increased by 17.7 percent from previous month’s level but went down by 21.7 percent from that of last year. In contrast, stocks in commercial warehouses dropped by 10.3 and 73.6 percent from previous month and last year’s levels, respectively.
• Around 54 percent of the current corn stocks are with households and 46 percent are with commercial warehouses.
• NFA reported 1.6 metric tons of corngrain stock for the period.