India, the world's second-biggest rice producer, increased the minimum export price for the grain to boost local supplies and curb inflation as global stockpiles of cereals fall to the lowest in more than two decades.
Exporters must ship rice for at least 40,000 rupees, or US$1,000 a ton (0.907 tonne), excluding freight, which compares with US$650 a ton previously, the trade ministry said in a statement. The price for aromatic Basmati rice was raised to US$1,100 a ton.
Record prices are threatening food security in rice-buying nations from the Philippines to Nigeria and are driving up costs for producers, including Anheuser-Busch Cos, the biggest US buyer of the grain, and cereal maker Kellogg Co. Vietnam, China and Egypt are restricting rice exports, and South Korea will release grain from state-controlled reserves to cool prices.
"Not just India, but governments across the globe are taking steps to keep prices of staple foods under control," said Atul Chaturvedi, president of Adani Enterprises Ltd, India's biggest private exporter of farm goods. "It's clearly the result of the fight for food and fuel."
The Food and Agriculture Organization said last month that 36 nations, including China face food emergencies this year. World rice stockpiles may total 72.1 million tonnes by the end of July, the lowest since 1984, the US Department of Agriculture said.
Rough rice prices have almost doubled on the Chicago Board of Trade in the past year. Rice for delivery in May rose as much as US$0.48, or 2.5 percent, to a record US$19.785 per 100 pounds (220kg) in Chicago yesterday. Wheat reached US$13.495 a bushel on Feb. 27, its highest-ever.
"Food prices all over the world are going through the roof and so spread the risk of social unrest," investor Jim Rogers said in Singapore yesterday. "It doesn't matter where, everybody has to pay higher prices for food and that's causing a problem."
Consumer prices in China, the world's fastest-growing major economy, soared to 8.7 percent last month, the fastest pace in 11 years. In Thailand, prices jumped the most in 20 months, and in Vietnam, inflation is its highest in more than a decade.
Rising prices and shortages of food staples have been felt outside Asia. In Argentina, farmers blocked highways and access to ports and warehouses to protest rising export taxes, leading to a shortage of meat. The nation is the world's second-largest corn exporter and the third-largest soybean supplier.
The Philippines, the world's biggest rice buyer, may reduce the import tax on the grain to as little as 10 percent from 50 percent, Finance Secretary Gary Teves said in an interview yesterday. Sri Lanka scrapped customs duty on rice imports, the state-owned Daily News reported yesterday.
SECURITY: As China is ‘reshaping’ Hong Kong’s population, Taiwan must raise the eligibility threshold for applications from Hong Kongers, Chiu Chui-cheng said When Hong Kong and Macau citizens apply for residency in Taiwan, it would be under a new category that includes a “national security observation period,” Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday. President William Lai (賴清德) on March 13 announced 17 strategies to counter China’s aggression toward Taiwan, including incorporating national security considerations into the review process for residency applications from Hong Kong and Macau citizens. The situation in Hong Kong is constantly changing, Chiu said to media yesterday on the sidelines of the Taipei Technology Run hosted by the Taipei Neihu Technology Park Development Association. With
CARROT AND STICK: While unrelenting in its military threats, China attracted nearly 40,000 Taiwanese to over 400 business events last year Nearly 40,000 Taiwanese last year joined industry events in China, such as conferences and trade fairs, supported by the Chinese government, a study showed yesterday, as Beijing ramps up a charm offensive toward Taipei alongside military pressure. China has long taken a carrot-and-stick approach to Taiwan, threatening it with the prospect of military action while reaching out to those it believes are amenable to Beijing’s point of view. Taiwanese security officials are wary of what they see as Beijing’s influence campaigns to sway public opinion after Taipei and Beijing gradually resumed travel links halted by the COVID-19 pandemic, but the scale of
A US Marine Corps regiment equipped with Naval Strike Missiles (NSM) is set to participate in the upcoming Balikatan 25 exercise in the Luzon Strait, marking the system’s first-ever deployment in the Philippines. US and Philippine officials have separately confirmed that the Navy Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System (NMESIS) — the mobile launch platform for the Naval Strike Missile — would take part in the joint exercise. The missiles are being deployed to “a strategic first island chain chokepoint” in the waters between Taiwan proper and the Philippines, US-based Naval News reported. “The Luzon Strait and Bashi Channel represent a critical access
Pope Francis is be laid to rest on Saturday after lying in state for three days in St Peter’s Basilica, where the faithful are expected to flock to pay their respects to history’s first Latin American pontiff. The cardinals met yesterday in the Vatican’s synod hall to chart the next steps before a conclave begins to choose Francis’ successor, as condolences poured in from around the world. According to current norms, the conclave must begin between May 5 and 10. The cardinals set the funeral for Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square, to be celebrated by the dean of the College
RSS