Rice prices hit record – World food fears
Concerns about food security mounted on Thursday, as rice prices hit records in Asia and the United Nations warned that staples for the world’s hungry were getting much more expensive.
In the United States, Bush Administration officials downplayed notions of food shortages amid reports of worried buyers stocking up on rice in major chain stores.
“In the US, I don’t see food shortages,” US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson told Reuters in an interview. “We have plenty of food in the US The price of food has gone up, but again that won’t be as significant for the average American as gasoline.”
Rice prices hit record highs in Thailand and in electronic trading of Chicago Board of Trade futures during Asian trading hours. This week’s 5 percent jump in Thailand rice takes prices to $1,000 a ton, nearly triple their level at the start of the year, intensifying fears of social unrest in Asia.
Rice prices on the CBOT are up about 80 percent this year, hitting a record of more than $25 per hundredweight in Asian trading hours, then retreating in Chicago on profit taking.
Riots have erupted in Africa and Haiti due to the surging price of fuel and food. The International Monetary Fund is in talks with governments in 10 countries, mostly in Africa, about boosting aid to cover soaring food prices, a spokesman said.
“Of course this needs to be determined country by country, but as a general rule we believe that targeted social assistance is the first best policy, but that other temporary measures may be needed and could be used, such as tax on food,” IMF spokesman Masood Ahmed said.
“We have also encouraged our members who are food exporters to avoid disruptions to global markets, such as through export restrictions of food and to preserve domestic production incentives,” Ahmed added.
At the United Nations, the World Food Program’s executive director said the cost of feeding the world’s hungry has spiked nearly 40 percent amid spiraling food costs and oil prices,
