Welcome to European Tribune. It's gone a bit quiet around here these days, but it's still going.
Display:

Rice traders hit by panic as prices surge

Rice prices hit the $1,000-a-tonne level for the first time on Thursday as panicking importers scrambled to secure supplies, exacerbating the tightness already provoked by export restrictions in Vietnam, India, Egypt, China and Cambodia.

The jump came as the Philippines, the largest rice importer, failed for the fourth time to secure as much rice as it wanted.

The unsuccessful tender followed Bangladesh's inability to buy any rice at all this week.

Traders and analysts warned that rice demand was escalating in spite of prices rising to three times the level of a year ago as countries try to build up stocks.

Your long term point is well made, but the short term disruptions are huge, and very dangerous...


In the long run, we're all dead. John Maynard Keynes

by Jerome a Paris (etg@eurotrib.com) on Fri Apr 18th, 2008 at 10:12:54 AM EST
Well, this looks like a speculation-based spike rather than an actual, long term increase of the prices by three. Protectionism, national reserves should allow to protect the actual populations of such prices increases, as in electricity. The price of a baguette was regulated until 20 years ago, in France...

But corrupt, indebted, "reformed" governments have been unable to undertake such preventative measures and are now fighting for the last grain of rice available...

Un roi sans divertissement est un homme plein de misères

by linca (antonin POINT lucas AROBASE gmail.com) on Fri Apr 18th, 2008 at 10:22:28 AM EST
[ Parent ]
So it's panic, not speculation.

you are the media you consume.

by MillMan (millguy at gmail) on Fri Apr 18th, 2008 at 04:13:50 PM EST
[ Parent ]
What a horrible graph - why don't they use log scale?

When the capital development of a country becomes a by-product of the activities of a casino, the job is likely to be ill-done. — John M. Keynes
by Carrie (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Sun May 11th, 2008 at 08:53:20 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Display: