Financial Crisis To Trigger Global Demand: IRRI

The director-general of the International Rice Research Institute, Robert Zeigler, has predicted that the global demand for rice will increase in the coming months as the recent economic slowdown is forcing poor people to eat more rice in place of meat.

Rice, the staple food for three billion people, climbed 29 % in the past year to $15.38 per 100 pounds. The price reached a record $25.07 on April 24 as Vietnam, India and Egypt curbed exports to protect domestic stockpiles and cool prices. The gains contributed to food riots from Haiti to Egypt.

Thailand's benchmark export price of white rice fell 36 % from a record in May to $664 PMT last week, according to the Thai Rice Exporters Association. The price is almost double the average $336 PMT in October last year.