SURGING rice prices in the Philippines could be a warning sign for other major importers of the food staple, as the fallout from India’s export restrictions continues to reverberate across Asia and West Africa.
Rice inflation in the South-East Asian nation increased at the fastest pace in almost five years in August, reviving memories of a 2018 shock that led to the end of a two-decade-old limit on imports.
“We’re seeing a great deal of uncertainty,” said Shirley Mustafa, an economist at the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization. “Price pressure is being exacerbated by the restrictions.” Supply security is at the top of the agenda for many consumers. Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr and Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh met on the sidelines of the Asean summit in Jakarta and are planning a five-year deal.
Indonesia has agreed to sign a supply agreement with Cambodia for the first time in over a decade. The memorandum of understanding is for as much as 250,000 tonnes a year, more than double the volume of a similar deal in 2012.