Even though China’s severe flooding in the Yangtze region and the ensued structure damage to its Three Gorges Dam has made international news, official statistics released indicate that China continues to the have a bumper crop. Floods affected only 5% of fields which mostly contain Indica rice and only 1% of fields were destroyed. However, China had expanded the planted area by 6.8%, more than offsetting the field damage. 

Meanwhile, in the northwest region, responsible for 70% of China’s grain output including rice, prospects are looking positive. Typically, harvest in this region begins anywhere from October to November. In September, USDA’s World Agricultural Production report's estimate for rice production of China remains unchanged from the previous month with 147 million metric tons.  Milled rice imports for China are estimated at 2.55 MMT, while milled rice exports are estimated at 2.75 MMT.