BANGKOK, Oct 30: The global trade in rice will soar to record highs next year despite a decline in the Asian harvest, the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said on Wednesday.

In its bimonthly Rice Market Monitor, the FAO said world rice consumption will outpace production, with a 1.5 per cent fall in Asia’s 2002 paddy crop to 535 million tons.

“World rice stocks are projected to slide to a 15-year low of 131 million tons in 2003 as global rice consumption is expected to grow faster than production for the third consecutive year,” it said.

The FAO said international rice transactions in 2002 were set to reach 25.7 million tons, 1.7 million tons higher than last year and crossing the benchmark of 25 million for just the second time in history.

The global rice trade could reach 26.1 million tons in 2003, it added.

The trade surge is mainly due to a strengthening of import demand in Asia, notably Indonesia and the Philippines, the report said.

Production falls in Latin America and the Caribbean, and an increase in expected rice purchases by Nigeria are also key factors.

Thailand remains the world’s top exporter, although the report lowered its forecast for Thai exports by 500,000 tons, to seven million, based on reduced shipments in the first seven months of the year.

The report also highlighted Vietnam’s slide from second largest exporter in the world in 2001 to fourth this year, eclipsed by a massive increase in Indian exports and a resurgent United States.

India will manage to export a record five million tons this year, a 250 percent increase on 2001, due to abundant surplus stocks held by the state, it said.

This is despite an expected pronounced 2002 paddy decline of 10 million tons caused by an erratic monsoon.—AFP