CHICAGO, April 18: With established trade trends in rice being blurred by tight global supplies that have sparked global food riots, US exports are set to grow and enter more new markets.

Panic buying of rice futures at the Chicago Board of Trade took prices to record highs on Thursday, which is expected to fuel already surging values for the staple in Asia.

The clampdown on shipments by major rice exporters in a bid to ensure food security and contain inflation over recent months has pushed new demand to the US, the world’s fourth largest exporter of the grain.

“The global influx to the United States for rice is indicative of the underlying global supply problem,” said Thomas Wynn, director of market development for the US Rice Producers Association.

“The rice trade has traditionally been hemispheric. The western hemisphere typically served the western hemisphere and the eastern hemisphere would circulate its rice in the east.

“We’ve definitely thrown the historic trends out the window,” he told Reuters.

He said there has been talk among some traders that Turkey, traditionally a buyer of medium-grain rice, may be interested in buying long-grain US rice. Other traditional buyers of Asian-origin rice, like Iran and some east African nations, may be interested in US supplies, he added.

“Looking at the potential new markets for US rice, we should start to see those materialise in the next month or two when the supply shortage really begins to make itself apparent,” Wynn said.

Rice has become the latest food commodity to jump to historically high prices, joining wheat, corn and soybeans.

Surging prices and concerns about rice shortages have already sparked protests and riots around the globe and played a role last week in the collapse of the Haitian government.

Top consuming countries are hoarding supplies and several top exporters have banned exports to help stabilize domestic prices and stave off inflation. They include India, Vietnam, and Pakistan, three of the top five exporting nations last year.

-—Reuters

Opinion

Editorial

Quetta bombing
Updated 10 Nov, 2024

Quetta bombing

THERE appears to be no end to the stream of violent incidents occurring in Balochistan, indicating a clear failure ...
Burdened courts
10 Nov, 2024

Burdened courts

ACCORDING to recent reports, the new chief justice has set about implementing a recently adopted plan for clearing...
Playing in Pakistan
10 Nov, 2024

Playing in Pakistan

MOHSIN Naqvi, Pakistan’s cricket chief, has shown a brave face. Now he has to be unrelenting and put the onus on...
Wake-up call
Updated 09 Nov, 2024

Wake-up call

Pakistan must heed UN's wake-up call and bring its laws and practices in line with its international human rights obligations.
Foreign banks’ exit
09 Nov, 2024

Foreign banks’ exit

WHY are foreign banks leaving Pakistan? In the last couple of decades, we have seen a number of global banking...
Kurram protest
09 Nov, 2024

Kurram protest

FED up with the state’s apathy towards their plight, the people of Kurram tribal district took to the streets on...