US rice futures soar to record high

Tokyo, London: US rice futures rose to a fresh all-time high yesterday on worries about supply shortages which have triggered political unrest and export restrictions designed to protect dwindling domestic stocks.

Chicago Board of Trade July rough rice futures hit a record high of $24.745 per hundred pounds. Prices have risen about 68 per cent since the start of 2008.

"Some of the main rice producing countries have imposed export curbs ... and this has combined with low global stocks to drive rice higher," said Kenji Kobayashi, a grains analyst at Kanetsu Asset Management in Tokyo. "Rice has been hitting successive records. It's neared $25 and I think $30 is now on our horizon," Kobayashi said.

Trade bans have been put in place by India, the world's second-largest rice exporter in 2007, and Vietnam, the third-biggest, in the hopes of cooling domestic prices of the staple food. Thai 5 per cent broken grade white rice could rise more than 30 per cent to $1,300 per tonne by May.