Following on July 21's "India, World's Largest Exporter, Bans Rice Exports" and July 8's "El Nino hits rice industry"
From Bloomberg via Yahoo Finance, July 25:
India’s move to ban certain rice exports has sparked some panic buying in various countries, with videos on social media showing bags of the staple food flying off the shelves and long lines outside grocery stores.
From the US to Canada and Australia, reports of overseas Indians stocking up are going viral. Some shops have imposed buying limits, while others hiked prices to cash in on the frenzy. Indian restaurants worry about a shortage.
Rice is vital to the diets of billions in Asia and Africa. India’s restrictions, which apply to shipments of non-basmati white rice, are aimed at controlling local prices, but they add to strains on global food markets that have already been roiled by bad weather and the worsening conflict in Ukraine.
“Over the past few days, people have started buying maybe twice as much rice as usual. So we had to restrict,” said Shishir Shaima, a manager of MGM Spices, an Indian grocery store in Surry Hills in Australia.
The store is now allowing customers to buy only one 5-kilogram bag of rice each. “Some people get mad when we won’t let them buy more than one bag, but we won’t let them,” Shaima said....
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As one of the commenters, obviously trying to channel Marie Antoinette Agarwal said:
"Let them eat naan."
(for what it's worth, Queen Marie got a bum rap, it was brioche and she didn't say it)
Also from Bloomberg, this time via the Bangkok Post:
Rice could hit decade high as Indian curbs rock market
