Global paddy rice production in 2005 is estimated to reach the highest level on record but the rice trade will continue to decline, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organizartion said in a statement on Tuesday.

"Global paddy production could swell to 621 million tonnes as rice producing countries are reacting to the rise in prices witnessed in 2004 by expanding cultivation," said a statement issued in Bangkok by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization.

The FAO estimated this year's rice production at 621 million tonnes, 16 million tonnes more than that in 2004 and it reaches the highest level on record since 1999, according to the statement.

Much of the increased output is concentrated in Asia with China' s mainland boosting production by 6 million tonnes compared to last year, it said.

Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Thailand will also witness increased harvest.

However, other Asian producers such as Indonesia, Japan and Vietnam may experience a contraction in rice production.

Meanwhile, rice trade in 2005 is forecast to be 2.8 percent less than in 2004, marking the third consecutive decline from the record rice volume exchanged in 2002.

Contracted exports are anticipated from Thailand, the largest rice exporter in the world, and also China due to policies which are sustaining domestic prices, said FAO.

It said that the decline in trade is also reflecting a retrenchment from the markets of some of the traditional importing countries which succeeded in boosting production in the past few years. These include Brazil, Indonesia, Iran and Nigeria.

Increasing supplies are also expected to push downward international rice prices, which have experienced a slide in past months, it added.

Source: Xinhua