Global rice price hinges on India, Thailand, ADB report says.

The global rice trade could contract quickly this year if India halts its exports and Thailand maintains its price subsidies for farmers, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) said Thursday.


"Maintaining careful watch on the current production year and consumption responses is of utmost importance" to avoid a repeat of the rice price crisis of 2007-2008, the ADB said it is report -Blueprint for a Stable Rice Market.

Global rice prices soared to above 1,000 dollars per tonne in 2008,after India and Vietnam imposed export bans on the grain, but have since fallen steadily, hitting 486 dollars per tonne for long-grained rice in 2011.

While prices for wheat and oilseeds have jumped this year inresponse to drought in the United States, international prices ofrice - the main food staple in Asia - should remain stable unless India reimposes its export ban, the ADB predicted.

"Should India revert to an export ban as it liquidates its ricestock and suffers from monsoon failure, the rice economy could tighten quickly," the ADB report warned.

"This is particularly true if Thailand insists on maintaining its paddy pledging price floor and implicit tax on its rice exports," ADB said.//DPA


Source : nationmultimedia.com