Global rice prices hit 15-year high after India curbs - Supply-chain players held onto stockpiles amid uncertainties over the ban’s length and export limit concerns.

Supply-chain players held onto stockpiles amid uncertainties over the ban’s length and export limit concerns.

AFP - 08 Sep 2023, 5:51pm 35 Shares facebook sharing button Sharetwitter sharing button Tweetwhatsapp sharing button Shareemail sharing button Email

While worldwide food prices fell in August, rice prices jumped 9.8% from the previous month. (Bernama pic) PARIS: Global rice prices reached a 15-year high in August after top exporter India banned some overseas sales of the grain, the Food and Agriculture Organization said Friday.

While global food prices eased in August, those of rice rose 9.8% compared to the previous month, “reflecting trade disruptions in the aftermath of a ban on Indica white rice exports by India”, the FAO said in a monthly report.

Stay up-to-date by following FMT's Telegram channel “Uncertainty about the ban’s duration and concerns over export restrictions caused supply-chain actors to hold on to stocks, re-negotiate contracts or stop making price offers, thereby limiting most trade to small volumes and previously concluded sales,” it said.

Rice is a major world food staple and prices on international markets have soared in the wake of the Covid pandemic, the war in Ukraine and the impact of the El Nino weather phenomenon on production levels.

Indian announced in July a ban on exports of non-basmati white rice, which accounts for around a quarter of its total.

The consumer affairs and food ministry said at the time that the move would “ensure adequate availability” and “allay the rise in prices in the domestic market”.

https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/business/2023/09/08/global-rice-prices-hit-15-year-high-after-india-curbs/