George Raine, Chronicle Staff Writer
Friday, April 25, 2008
The climbing global price of rice and other staples shows no sign of leveling off, given caps placed on exports and various supply-side squeezes. As a result, food experts predict hunger and poverty in poor nations along with a restricted supply of grains coupled with rising prices in this country.
The worldwide rice crisis lapped over into the United States this week when Costco Wholesale and Wal-Mart's Sam's Club, the two biggest warehouse retail chains, limited the amount of bulk imported rice customers can buy. Sam's Club said the restriction is due to "recent supply and demand trends."
The shortage reflects restrictions on exports by major rice producers, notably India, Vietnam and Egypt, followed on Wednesday by Brazil, causing imbalance in world markets. These nations acted to ensure adequate domestic supplies amid rising world prices for preferable varieties of long-grain rice. Drought has contributed to the shortage, as has hoarding, experts say.
...follow the link for the rest of the story...
0 comments:
Post a Comment
I hate having to fill out a form just to post a comment, but I have had to add that thing where you have to type in the letters that you see in the graphic to be able to post a comment, because I was getting nasty spam stuff. You can still choose anonymous.
If you have relevant links or resources, please put them in the comments and I will certainly check them out!