Rice Climbs to Record as World Bank Warns of Thai Export Risk
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Rice Climbs to Record as World Bank Warns of Thai Export Risk
by takeshitsai on Wed Apr 23, 2008 9:45 pm
Rice climbed to a record after a World Bank official said Thailand, the largest exporter, may restrict shipments, worsening a global food crisis.
``If a key exporter like this limits foreign sales, it would be very much like Saudi Arabia reducing oil exports,'' said James Adams, vice president of the bank's East Asia and Pacific department. China, Vietnam, India and Egypt have curbed sales abroad to safeguard domestic supplies and cool inflation.
Rice, the staple for half the world, has more than doubled in the past year. The grain rose as much as 2.3 percent in Chicago today and has climbed 28 percent this month, heading for the best performance since October 1993. Wheat, corn and soybeans gained to records this year, spurring social unrest in countries including Haiti and Egypt.
Soaring prices may put basic foods beyond the reach of the poorest people, raising the risk of a ``silent famine'' in Asia, a World Food Program official said April 21. The poor will struggle to afford costlier food even as supplies stay available in shops, according to Paul Risley, a spokesman for the United Nations agency that feeds 28 million Asians.
Thailand, which ships one-third of the world's exports of rice, may follow its Asian neighbors in limiting sales, the World Bank's Adams said in an interview. The more countries impose export constraints, the ``stronger the pressures become for Thailand to do the same,'' he said April 21.
The nation won't impose curbs on overseas exports or distort prices, Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej said yesterday.
`Kitchen of the World'
``Thailand will lose the name of `kitchen of the world''' should it reduce shipments, he said at a press conference.
Thai exporters said foreign sales are already hurt by high prices. According to Chookiat Ophaswongse, president of the Thai Rice Exporters Association, the country's rice exports may fall by a third by the end of the year as high prices erode demand.
The price of grade-B white rice, the benchmark export variety, rose 4.7 percent in the past two weeks to a record, according to the Association. Thailand exports almost twice the amount of rice as India, its nearest rival.
The price of the grain was set at $894 a metric ton today, not including freight costs, the Association's Web site showed. The grain was sold at $854 on April 9, the previous posted price, and $327.25 a ton on average in the same month last year.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon said April 20 rising food costs may hurt economic growth and threaten political security. The World Bank has forecast that 33 nations from Mexico to Yemen may face social unrest because of higher food and energy costs.
Prices Curb Sales
Rice futures in Chicago climbed to $24.745 per 100 pounds today and traded at $24.605 at 11:51 a.m. London time.
``Any move by Thailand to limit exports would create panic in the global market,'' Kenji Kobayashi, a grain analyst at Kanetsu Asset Management Co., said by phone from Tokyo today.
Commodity prices are in their seventh year of gains. The UBS Bloomberg Constant Maturity Commodity Index of 26 raw materials more than tripled in the past six years as global demand led by China outpaced supplies of crops and metals.
Rising food and fuel prices are stoking global inflation. Singapore's inflation accelerated in March to the fastest pace in 26 years as the consumer price index jumped 6.7 percent from a year earlier, after gaining 6.5 percent in February, the Department of Statistics said today.
World Vision International, which provides food relief in 35 countries, said it can no longer provide rations to 1.5 million of the poor people it fed last year because of soaring costs and unmet aid commitments by donors.
Aid Falters
``Despite our best efforts, more than a million of our beneficiaries are no longer receiving food aid,'' World Vision President Dean Hirsch said in a statement yesterday. ``Around 572,000 of these are children who urgently need enough healthy food to thrive.''
India's record rice and wheat harvests may not be enough to ensure food security in the world's second-most populous nation because about 10 percent of the crop is lost to pests or rots in inadequate warehouses.
Agriculture Secretary P.K. Mishra yesterday said production of food grains will rise 4.6 percent to an estimated 227.3 million tons in the year ending June 30.
``If a key exporter like this limits foreign sales, it would be very much like Saudi Arabia reducing oil exports,'' said James Adams, vice president of the bank's East Asia and Pacific department. China, Vietnam, India and Egypt have curbed sales abroad to safeguard domestic supplies and cool inflation.
Rice, the staple for half the world, has more than doubled in the past year. The grain rose as much as 2.3 percent in Chicago today and has climbed 28 percent this month, heading for the best performance since October 1993. Wheat, corn and soybeans gained to records this year, spurring social unrest in countries including Haiti and Egypt.
Soaring prices may put basic foods beyond the reach of the poorest people, raising the risk of a ``silent famine'' in Asia, a World Food Program official said April 21. The poor will struggle to afford costlier food even as supplies stay available in shops, according to Paul Risley, a spokesman for the United Nations agency that feeds 28 million Asians.
Thailand, which ships one-third of the world's exports of rice, may follow its Asian neighbors in limiting sales, the World Bank's Adams said in an interview. The more countries impose export constraints, the ``stronger the pressures become for Thailand to do the same,'' he said April 21.
The nation won't impose curbs on overseas exports or distort prices, Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej said yesterday.
`Kitchen of the World'
``Thailand will lose the name of `kitchen of the world''' should it reduce shipments, he said at a press conference.
Thai exporters said foreign sales are already hurt by high prices. According to Chookiat Ophaswongse, president of the Thai Rice Exporters Association, the country's rice exports may fall by a third by the end of the year as high prices erode demand.
The price of grade-B white rice, the benchmark export variety, rose 4.7 percent in the past two weeks to a record, according to the Association. Thailand exports almost twice the amount of rice as India, its nearest rival.
The price of the grain was set at $894 a metric ton today, not including freight costs, the Association's Web site showed. The grain was sold at $854 on April 9, the previous posted price, and $327.25 a ton on average in the same month last year.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon said April 20 rising food costs may hurt economic growth and threaten political security. The World Bank has forecast that 33 nations from Mexico to Yemen may face social unrest because of higher food and energy costs.
Prices Curb Sales
Rice futures in Chicago climbed to $24.745 per 100 pounds today and traded at $24.605 at 11:51 a.m. London time.
``Any move by Thailand to limit exports would create panic in the global market,'' Kenji Kobayashi, a grain analyst at Kanetsu Asset Management Co., said by phone from Tokyo today.
Commodity prices are in their seventh year of gains. The UBS Bloomberg Constant Maturity Commodity Index of 26 raw materials more than tripled in the past six years as global demand led by China outpaced supplies of crops and metals.
Rising food and fuel prices are stoking global inflation. Singapore's inflation accelerated in March to the fastest pace in 26 years as the consumer price index jumped 6.7 percent from a year earlier, after gaining 6.5 percent in February, the Department of Statistics said today.
World Vision International, which provides food relief in 35 countries, said it can no longer provide rations to 1.5 million of the poor people it fed last year because of soaring costs and unmet aid commitments by donors.
Aid Falters
``Despite our best efforts, more than a million of our beneficiaries are no longer receiving food aid,'' World Vision President Dean Hirsch said in a statement yesterday. ``Around 572,000 of these are children who urgently need enough healthy food to thrive.''
India's record rice and wheat harvests may not be enough to ensure food security in the world's second-most populous nation because about 10 percent of the crop is lost to pests or rots in inadequate warehouses.
Agriculture Secretary P.K. Mishra yesterday said production of food grains will rise 4.6 percent to an estimated 227.3 million tons in the year ending June 30.
