IndexBox has just published a new report: ‘EU – Rice – Market Analysis, Forecast, Size, Trends and Insights’. Here is a summary of the report’s key findings.

In 2020, European imports of husked brown rice jumped nearly by +6% y-o-y to 1.1M tonnes, reaching the highest level over the past decade. Belgium, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, France, Italy and Poland were the largest brown rice importers, constituting more than two-thirds of total imports in the EU. Poland, Belgium and the Netherlands featured the highest growth rates regarding brown rice purchases among the key importers. Last year, total rice imports in the EU grew by +10% y-o-y to 3.5M tonnes. 

European Imports of Husked Brown Rice

In 2020, brown rice imports in the EU rose markedly to 1.1M tonnes, growing by +5.9% on the previous year’s figure. In value terms, brown rice imports jumped by +9.9% y-o-y $764M.

The purchases of the seven major importers of husked brown rice, namely Belgium (243K tonnes), the Netherlands (179K tonnes), Portugal (135K tonnes), Spain (100K tonnes), France (100K tonnes), Italy (86K tonnes) and Poland (78K tonnes), represented more than two-thirds of total imports. It was distantly followed by Germany (68K tonnes), comprising a 6.3% share of total imports.

In 2020, Poland (+29.0% y-o-y) saw the most notable growth rate of purchases amongst the key importing countries. Belgium (+11.0% y-o-y), the Netherlands (+10.5% y-o-y), Portugal (+9.3% y-o-y), Spain (+6.1% y-o-y) and Germany (+3.8% y-o-y) were following Poland.

In value terms, Belgium ($175M), the Netherlands ($127M) and France ($82M) constituted the countries with the highest levels of imports in 2020, with a combined 50% share of total imports. Italy, Portugal, Germany, Spain and Poland lagged somewhat behind, comprising a further 41%.

In 2020, the brown rice import price in the EU amounted to $708 per tonne, picking up by +3.8% against the previous year. Prices varied noticeably by the country of destination; the country with the highest price was Germany ($940 per tonne), while Portugal ($499 per tonne) was amongst the lowest. In 2020, the most notable growth rate of prices was attained by Germany, while the other leaders experienced more modest paces of growth.

Total European Rice Imports

In 2020, the amount of rice imported in the EU amounted to 3.5M tonnes, increasing +10.2% compared with the year before. In value terms, rice imports spiked by +12.8% y-o-y to $2.9B in 2020.

France (627K tonnes), Belgium (611K tonnes), Germany (462K tonnes) and the Netherlands (399K tonnes) represented roughly 60% of total imports of rice in 2020. It was distantly followed by Portugal (218K tonnes), Italy (217K tonnes), Spain (210K tonnes) and Poland (205K tonnes), together making up a 24% share of total imports.

In value terms, France ($589M), Germany ($462M) and Belgium ($390M) appeared to be the countries with the highest levels of imports in 2020, together comprising 50% of total imports.

Source: IndexBox Platform