After Wheat, Now Global Rice Prices Start Crawling Up

Illustration. (Photo: Unsplash)

JAKARTA – Rice has become the newest commodity whose price has also increased due to the Russo-Ukrainian war. Rice prices increased as traders began to bet that this commodity would be an alternative to wheat, which is currently skyrocketing in price.

Quoting Bloomberg, Friday, March 4, wheat exports from Russia and Ukraine contributed more than a quarter of world agricultural trade and a fifth of global corn sales. Shipments from the two countries have been chaotic since the geopolitical crisis raged.

"Everyone is trying to buy all the types of flour they can get their hands on. With wheat supply tightening on the world market, you will see demand shifting to rice," said StoneX Chief Commodity Economist Arlan Suderman.

All commodity prices, from wheat, crude oil, to fertilizers, continued to soar in line with concerns about supply chain disruptions due to the war. This condition is expected to spur world inflation in the midst of a food emergency. Rice prices jumped 4.2 percent to $16.89 per 100 pounds, the highest level since May 2020.

Rice prices also rose to a level of 11 percent on a weekly basis, the highest since 2018. However, the good news is that there is still quite a lot of world rice supply coming from its biggest exporter, India. Global rice supply is estimated to increase by 0.4 million tons.