(News resource: Rice Online via Khaleej Times)
Fresh demand for rice in two big Asian countries is sending a worrying signal the region’s main staple may join a surge in prices for other grains, worsening Asia’s spiralling food inflation. Asian rice traders say aggressive buying in heavily populated Indonesia and Bangladesh could spread, pushing up world rice prices even though bumper crops in Thailand and Vietnam should mean ample supplies.
“This is only the start of the panic buying,” said Ker Chung Yang, commodities analyst at Singapore-based Phillip Futures, referring to Bangladesh’s recent tripling of its rice import target and Indonesia’s purchase this week of 820,000 tonnes of Thai rice, nearly five times the volume initially sought. “I expect we’ll have more countries coming in and buying grain.” Still, analysts see little risk of a 2008-like food crisis, when rice prices rose above $1,000 a tonne, double their current level.
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