South Korea: 2021 Rice Production Update

On November 15, 2021, Statistics Korea (KOSTAT) released a revised 2021 rice production estimate of 3.882 million metric tons (MMT), up an additional 1.6 percentage points from the initial rice production estimate in early September and up 10.7 percent from the previous year. The increase in production was driven by higher yield (up 9.8 percent) coupled with a slight increase in crop area (up 0.8 percent). The MY 2021/22 stocks-to-use ratio is expected to rise to 36.9 percent.