According to U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization, FAO, although global rice production is set to rise almost 2 % this year, easing the current tight supplies but it will be two or three years before prices drop significantly.

Rice prices have increased by 66 % between March 2007 and March 2008, reaching around US$546 PMT for high quality Thai B rice. The rise has led to concerns about rioting in parts of Asia, such as the Philippines, where rice is a staple food and consumers are unable to bear such significant increases.

Four of the leading rice exporters - China, India, Egypt and Vietnam - have either imposed minimum export prices, export taxes or export bans on rice to protect against inflation at home. This will reduce the amount of rice traded internationally by 1.1 million MT compared with the 2007 trade, said FAO.